Percentage of household income used to pay for water

Public water management, which includes water supply and sanitation, is an essential basic service, and it is necessary to ensure at all times that its access is universal and affordable to avoid lack of supply for economic or social reasons . The weight of the water bill impacts unequally according to the family budget. This indicator makes it possible to know the percentage of the average annual cost of a household's water expenditure with respect to the average income per household in a municipality. This measure is calculated with average values ​​and for a hypothetical consumption of 12 m3 per month, given that we do not have the particular conditions of each home. Water affordability is typically measured as the percentage of the annual cost of water bills relative to median household income. The UN sets a threshold of not allocating more than 3% of income to guarantee this supply. Therefore, it can be considered that those households that pay an annual amount for water higher than this established affordability threshold, do not have the human right of affordability to water and sanitation guaranteed through the rates established for its supply Check the technical sheet for further information.