Insufficient access to water and sanitation services is often seen as a southern countries' issue. However, achieving equitable access to water and sanitation still requires actions throughout the EURO/UNECE region, east and west alike: several groups of society do not benefit from equitable access to water and sanitation. This is due to growing levels of poverty and increasing water tariffs throughout the region, including in its western part, which puts pressure on household incomes available for water and sanitation, making the services hardly affordable. At the same time, large areas in Europe simply do not have access to drinking water and sanitation due to their geographical location on remote spots, rural zones or simply not enough water to cover their needs. Heavily polluted areas also make human water consumption impossible. Special measures, including financial and social measures, need to be put into place to ensure affordability of water and sanitation for all.