According to Yale University’s 2024 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Singapore ranks first in providing safe and clean drinking water, scoring 99.9 on the list.
The list ranks 180 countries on sanitation and water quality, focusing on the health risks of unsafe sanitation and drinking water.
“Singapore not only has universal access to safe sanitation, but it is also a global leader in the treatment and reuse of wastewater. The Singaporean Government has integrated wastewater reuse into its socioeconomic development and water security,” said the report.
Source: Andres Siimon on Unsplash, for illustration purposes only.
For the ranking, each country’s water and sanitation health risks were scored using a formula that measures “health loss”, known as disability-adjusted life years by the World Health Organization (WHO), adjusted for age, according to The Strait Times (ST).
A score of 100 means a country has very little health loss, while a score of zero means the country has the most health loss.
In the EPI report, Singapore scored 99.9, putting it ahead of Italy (98.2), the United Kingdom (98.2), Switzerland (98.0), and Germany (97.9).
On the other hand, countries with the lowest scores, indicating the most health problems, are mostly in Africa, like Madagascar (12.9), Niger (12.2), Lesotho (9.4), the Central African Republic (8.9), and Chad (4.3).
Clean drinking water indicates having access to safe, available, and high-quality water for daily use and health needs.
The report explains that those ranked at the top are countries with a good water source, which is easy to reach and not likely to be polluted. These countries have reliable sources of water that can be found in household water connections, public standpipes, boreholes, protected wells, protected springs, and through rainwater collection.
In the 2022 report, Singapore secured the 21st spot for sanitation and drinking water.
Besides sanitation and water, the EPI ranks countries on various environmental issues, including climate change, environmental health, and ecosystem protection.
Singapore was ranked 44th overall. It performed poorly in some areas, ranking 129th in marine habitat conservation, 96th in climate change efforts, and 65th in ecosystem vitality.
The EPI report, published every two years, used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study, which collected information on water sources and sanitation from 204 countries between 1990 and 2021, reports ST.
The report disclosed that PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, has developed advanced systems for monitoring drinking water quality, including checking for chemicals, microbes, and radiation.
Despite the high quality of tap water in Singapore, many people still boil it to remove any potential contaminants before drinking, the report added.
Also read: S’pore ranks 5th in list of Most Peaceful Country in the World in 2024
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Featured image adapted from Andres Siimon on Unsplash, for illustration purposes only.
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