Goal 6 · 8 official targets
Clean Water and Sanitation
“Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”
Colour note
#26BDE2 Each goal has its own colour from the UN's official palette, so it can be recognised at a glance in any language.
Our reading: Sky blue, the natural colour of clean water.
Why it matters
Safe water and decent toilets protect people from disease.
Without them, children fall ill, and women and girls often spend hours fetching water instead of learning or earning.
Fresh water is also under pressure from pollution and overuse.
How the goal works
Success looks like this: Everyone has safe, affordable drinking water and decent toilets, and water is used and shared wisely.
The goal has 8 official targets. Three of them, in simple words:
- Universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all (6.1).
- Adequate sanitation and hygiene for all, and an end to open defecation (6.2).
- Improve water quality by reducing pollution and halving the share of untreated wastewater (6.3).
How it connects
What you can do
- In 1 minute
- Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth.
- In a day
- Join a river, lake or beach clean-up.
- For a lifetime
- Use water carefully, and keep chemicals and plastics out of drains.
0 candles lit for this goal
Light one for Goal 6Source: United Nations, Goal 6 · Last checked 13 October 2026