Drinking water, also known as
potable water or
improved drinking water, is
water safe enough for
drinking and
food preparation. Globally, in 2012, 89% of people had access to water suitable for drinking. Nearly 4 billion had access to
tap water while another 2.3 billion had access to
wells or public taps. 1.8 billion people still use an unsafe drinking water source which may be contaminated by
feces. This can result in
infectious diarrhea such as
cholera and
typhoid among others.