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More than 4 billion people may not have access to clean water

The new estimate is more than double the official count

A stock image of a person holding a glass under a running faucet. The cup is filling with drinking water.

The World Health Organization estimates around 2 billion people don’t have access to clean water. The number may be twice as high, a new study suggests.

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By Claire Yuan

Access to clean water is a human right — one that half of the world may not have.

Out of the roughly 8 billion people on Earth, more than 4.4