Water problems due to scarcity, inaccessibility, or poor quality are a major barrier to household functioning, livelihood, and health globally. Household-to-household water borrowing has been posited as a strategy to alleviate unmet water needs. However, the prevalence and predictors of this practice have not been systematically examined. Therefore, we tested whether water borrowing occurs across diverse global contexts with varying water problems. Second, we tested if household water borrowing is associated with unmet water needs, perceived socio-economic status (SES), and/or water-related system failures, and if water access moderated (or changed) these relationships. Using survey data from the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) study from 21 sites in 19 low- and middle-income countries (n = 5495 households), we found that household-to-household water borrowing was practiced in all 21 sites, with 44.7% (11.4–85.4%) of households borrowing water at least once the previous month. Multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression models demonstrate that high unmet water needs (odds ratio [OR] = 2.86], 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.09–3.91), low perceived SES (OR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.05–1.13), and water-related system failures (23–258%) were all significantly associated with higher odds of water borrowing. Significant interactions (all p < 0.01) between water access, unmet water needs, and water-related system failures on water borrowing indicate that water access moderates these relationships. These data are the first to demonstrate that borrowing water is commonly used by households around the world to cope with water insecurity. Due to how prevalent water borrowing is, its implications for social dynamics, resource allocation, and health and well-being are likely vast but severely under-recognized.

由于稀缺，交通不便或质量差而引起的水问题是全球家庭功能，生计和健康的主要障碍。已经提出了家庭对家庭用水的借贷，以减轻未满足的水需求。但是，这种行为的流行程度和预测因素尚未得到系统地检查。因此，我们测试了借水是否发生在具有不同水问题的不同全球环境中。其次，我们测试了家庭用水借贷是否与未满足的用水需求，感知的社会经济状况（SES）和/或与水相关的系统故障相关联，以及用水是否缓和了（或改变了）这些关系。利用来自19个中低收入国家（n = 5495户）的21个站点的家庭用水不安全经验（HWISE）研究的调查数据，我们发现，在所有21个地点都进行了家庭对家庭的借水活动，有44.7％（11.4-85.4％）的家庭上个月至少借过一次水。多级混合效应逻辑回归模型表明，未满足的用水需求较高（赔率[OR] = 2.86]，95％置信区间[CI] = 2.09–3.91），感知的SES低（OR = 1.09； 95％CI = 1.05– 1.13），与水相关的系统故障（23–258％）都与较高的取水几率显着相关。取水，未满足的用水需求以及取水过程中与水相关的系统故障之间的显着相互作用（所有p <0.01）表明，取水可以缓和这些关系。这些数据首次证明世界各地的家庭普遍使用借水来应对水的不安全状况。