The Essentials

Quality of Drinking Water: Countries Ranked

We’ve all heard the warnings when we travel overseas. Don’t drink the water.

 

But we all want access to safe drinking water.

 

The latest research from Yale University evaluated 180 countries to determine the quality of the drinking water. It was evaluated by DALY — or the disability adjusted life years — meaning the reduction of life expectancy or quality of life as a result of drinking local water.

 

And which countries had the highest life expectancy using those metrics?

 

That would be Austria, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Scoring the worst is Chad and the Central African Republic.

 

And how did the U.S. do? We are an embarrassing 23rd.