Addis Ababa although is the major urban center in Ethiopia, it has lower potablernwater and proper sanitation service even by sub-sharan standard. Lower incomernlevel is sited the major factor for this as the poor doesn't afford private waterrnconnections. An overview of urban poverty in Addis Ababa shows that the poor isrnnot only inaccessible to private connection but also consumes less. AA WSArn(2005), states that only 4 percent of Addis Ababa residents have housernconnection and consume 80-100 litters of water per person daily.rnThe research under the topic at hand explores water sources utilized andrnconsumption level of low-income residents of Addis leetema Sub-city. For thisrnpurpose, 384 households from three leebels of the sub-city were selected for thernsurvey. The result of the study shows that the urban poor use less convenientrnsources of water and also consume less than the minimum s tandard set by WHO.rnThe study found out that 232(60.42 percent} out 384 households earn monthlyrnincome of Birr 600.00 of these 65.94% households use water sources such asrnyard connection shared tabs, public fountains and water from vendors. Thernaverage households' consumption is 11.23 litters of water per day ( by half lowerrnthan WHO's minumum satndard). The major factor attributed to such lowerrnaccessibility in both terms is mainly household income in the study area. Apartrnfrom this water problems such as frequent and sever interruption, unaffordablernconnection charges, expensive tariff and etc adversely affected the lives of thernresidents in general and the poor in particular.rnConcerning policy issues urban water supply policy is neither formulatedrnindependently nor is addressed comprehensively in the existing water supplyrnpolicy. The existing areas concerning the urban setting in the policy lacles pro poorrnelements in terms of enabling the poor to get access to private meter connectionrnas well as to afford the tariff set for water supply in urban areas where the tariffrnbases on full cost recovery method and also is progressive.rnKey words: water accessibility, distribution, supply and consumption, meterrnconnection, household income, water sources and etc.rnList