While many countries boast excellent tap water, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and New Zealand are consistently ranked highest for purity and safety due to pristine natural sources (glaciers, springs) and strict regulations, with Switzerland often considered the top, offering water so clean it's often directly from natural springs with minimal treatment, notes Kiewa Valley Spring Water and Global Rescue. Other leaders include Finland, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands, all with high standards for safety and treatment.
The best rated tap water can be found in Liechtenstein. The World Health Organization and Numbeo both rate it 100/100. Liechtenstein is the only country to get the maximum score from both organizations.
In the 2021 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), the UK ranked 4th overall for water and sanitation. This index is an evaluation of 180 countries across 24 performance indicators, including water quality.
At the top of the list is Brazil, boasting a staggering 13.2% of the world's freshwater.
British tap water is said to be one of the best water supplies in the world, with a quality rating of 99.96% according to Discover Water. This quality is regularly monitored by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) to ensure our water is both clean and safe to drink.
A recent survey by Tapp Water ranked the best and worst areas in the UK for tap water taste. Scotland, Bristol, Leeds, Belfast, and Cardiff were rated as having the best-tasting water, while Norwich, Leicester, Southampton, London, and Birmingham ranked the worst.
These are the countries with the cleanest drinking water in the world:
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Antarctica holds 90% of the world's freshwater. Yet, it's melting at an alarming rate. Rising sea levels, shifting ocean currents and disappearing ice—what happens in Antarctica doesn't stay in Antarctica.
Spring water is considered the healthiest water to drink because it contains essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. As the name implies, the water comes from a spring or an underground source. It is the purest form of water since it is natural and organic without any treatment.
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Tap water is safe to drink in the UK. In fact, the quality of tap water in the UK is one of the best in the world. While water from the mains connection in your kitchen is safe to drink, the same cannot be said of the water in your bathroom.
The UK's cleanest and best beaches for a summer swim
Every year we take samples from your taps, our service reservoirs and treatment works and carry out over 300,000 tests, to ensure that you receive consistently high quality drinking water. It's reassuring to know that over 99% of our samples pass all of our tests.
Tap water doesn't technically expire, but the safety window is short. While chlorine or chloramine is added during treatment to kill microbes, this protective effect fades after just a few days. Depending on where and how it's stored, tap water can pick up new risks.
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Most of the ocean remains unexplored (around 80-95%) due to its immense size, extreme darkness, near-freezing temperatures, crushing pressure (over 1,000 times surface pressure in the deep), and the high cost and technological challenges of developing specialized equipment to withstand these harsh, hostile conditions. Sunlight can't penetrate far, visibility is near zero, and deep-sea life is adapted to pressure that would crush most vessels, making direct human study difficult and expensive.
Canada has 20 percent of the planet's freshwater. But some worry there's not enough to go around.
New findings from studying over two decades of satellite observations reveal that the Earth's continents have experienced unprecedented freshwater loss since 2002, driven by climate change, unsustainable groundwater use and extreme droughts.
United Kingdom
Who would have thought that the United Kingdom, known for its dense population, would be listed as one of the cleanest countries in the world? England managed to score 72.6 on the EPI because of its commitment to maintaining the quality of the sea and air, along with efficient waste management.
This water is treated to some of the strictest levels in the world and passes over 99.95% of tests. The UK's drinking water is sourced from many locations including rivers, groundwater aquifers, reservoirs, and in some unique places, directly from the sea.
Maldives: The Maldives, located in the Indian Ocean, is famous for its crystal-clear turquoise waters and coral reefs. The water is consistently warm throughout the year.
Niger: 54% lack access to clean water
Niger, the largest country in West Africa, is among the worst for access to clean water — and among the world's poorest. Over 40% of Niger's population lives on less than $2.15 a day.