Find WSP Resources

The Guidelines for drinking-water quality is an authoritative basis for the setting of national regulations and standards for water safety in support of public health. It provides guidance on ways of implementing its recommendations of contextual hazard identification and risk management, including catchment-to-consumer water safety plans. The Guidelines position WSPs as a core element of the Framework for Safe Drinking-water and outline the principles and key elements of a WSP for policy-makers.

This document provides a 'road map' to support country-level implementation of WSPs. It provides guidance for country planners on how to initiate and carry out WSP implementation.  The document outlines a series of steps which may guide how WSP implementation and scale-up of WSPs may be approached at a national level.

This field guide provides a step-by-step introduction to the WSP approach and a range of ready-to-use templates to assist those locally involved in rural water supply to develop and implement their own WSPs.
The field guide particularly addresses the rural community members responsible for the operation and management of their water supplies, as well as the staff of the local health and water supply offices responsible for safeguarding drinking-water quality and nongovernmental organizations that support drinking-water safety in rural communities.

This manual is designed to engage, empower and guide communities in the WSP development and implementation process. Guidance is provided on how to develop and implement a WSP through six achievable tasks. By following the WSP approach as described in this manual, small communities can improve the management of their drinking-water systems to achieve incremental and sustainable improvements in their drinking-water quality.

Water safety plans (WSPs) are the most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of a drinking water supply. This WSP manual describes how to develop and implement a WSP in clear and practical terms. Stepwise advice is provided through 11 learning modules, each representing a key step in the WSP development and implementation process.

This paper presents a case study from Bangladesh describing how WSPs can be developed and implemented for small systems. Model WSPs were developed through consultation with key water sector practitioners in the country. Simplified tools were developed to translate the formal WSPs into a format that was meaningful and accessible for communities to use.

This document provides guidance on developing and implementing a WSP auditing scheme, covering such topics as the aim and role of auditing, auditor training and certification, audit criteria, audit timing and frequency and audit reporting. The guidance document includes examples, tips, tools and case studies, and it serves as a practical resource for policy makers, government bodies responsible for drinking-water regulation or surveillance and water suppliers implementing WSPs.

Water quality deterioration in distribution systems, mainly caused by inappropriate planning, design and construction or inadequate operation and maintenance and water quality control, has been linked to a significant proportion of the burden of waterborne and water-related illness. Stresses on these systems caused by rapid urbanization, population growth and aging infrastructure further exacerbates the problems. This reference tool has been developed to help water suppliers and regulators who are familiar with the Water Safety Plan approach, enhance their risk assessment and management and investment planning for their water distribution systems.

Climate change is important to consider in all aspects of utility operations and planning because it can impact both the water resources as well as the infrastructure necessary to provide clean and safe water. The Climate Ready Water Utilities initiative is a practical and easy to use tool developed by EPA to assists the drinking water, waste water and stormwater utilities in understanding and addressing climate change risks and impacts as well as preparing operators systems’ for the impacts of climate change.

Describes the formulation of a Water Safety Plan by Maynilad Water Services, Inc. Philippines.

This tool is designed to guide organized drinking-water supplies through a WSP self-assessment to determine the WSP’s completeness and the effectiveness of its implementation. It aims to support the development, implementation and assessment of WSPs by systematically highlighting the areas where progress is being made and opportunities for improvement.

The Water Research Commission (WRC) project K5/1993//3 “Web enablement of a water safety plan and incorporation of existing similar supply system assessment tool” aimed to establish a methodology to identify and manage the risks of water services infrastructure and the means by which Water Services Institutions (WSIs) are better able to identify and manage these through use of Water Safety Planning. The tool assists in developing a Water Safety Plan. Implementation thereof (e.g. taking required actions, implementing corrective actions, developing and implementing management and communication procedures) of the Water Safety Plan depends on the Water Services Institution (WSI).

Under AusAid funding, WHO supported WSP implementation in Vietnam. This case study highlights key WSP facts, and describes the water supply situation and regulation of WSP in Vietnam

French version. This document describes the WSP implementation process in New Caledonia (French territory in the Pacific Ocean) for 13 municipalities that started in 2008. It describes the risk assessment and management tools used, the benefits achieved, the challenges and solutions to those challenges and the overall lessons learned.

Under AusAid funding, WHO supported WSP implementation in the Philippines. This case study reports on key WSP facts, and describes the status of water supply in the Philippines

Under AusAid funding, WHO supported Water safety plan implementation in Nepal. This case study reports on key WSP facts, and describes the status of water supply.

This document describes the WSP implementation process in New Caledonia (French territory in the Pacific Ocean) for 13 municipalities that started in 2008. It describes the risk assessment and management tools used, the benefits achieved, the challenges and solutions to those challenges and the overall lessons learned.

Under AusAid funding, WHO supported WSP implementation in Bhutan. This case study reports on key facts of the WSPs, and describes the status of water supply in Bhutan.

Provides customized guidance on implementing WSPs in rural water supply systems tailored to the Malaysian context

Under AusAid funding, WHO supported WSP implementation in 10 urban systems in Bangladesh. This case study reports on WSP facts, and provides a description of the status of urban and rural water supply in Bangladesh.

This guidebook, released by UNEP Risoe Center, describes adaptation strategies in the categories of water conservation; storm water control and capture; resilience to water quality degradation; preparation for extreme weather events; diversification of water supply; and mitigation. It has been made widely available and will help both developed and developing countries understand means of increasing resilience to the uncertain effects of future climate change. The Water Institute at UNC provided technical and methodological expertise.

Provides guidance for those responsible for managing water supply systems in buildings on applying the WSP approach to improve risk management and ensure water safety is maintained within the building.

This document provides guidance for managing water supplies in buildings where people may drink water; use water for food preparation; wash, shower, swim or use water for other recreational activities; or be exposed to aerosols produced by water-using devices, such as cooling towers. These uses occur in a variety of buildings, such as hospitals, schools, child and aged care, medical and dental facilities, hotels, apartment blocks, sport centres, commercial buildings and transport terminals.

Numerous publications now exist on the formation and use of WSPs, but most of these focus on largerscale projects run by private or public utilities, commercial enterprises and international NGOs. Tearfund’s particular interest is in how WSPs can be understood and established by user communities which are faced with self-managing a water supply project to gain sustainable access to safe water quality. The guide is written chiefly for the use of a facilitator or facilitating body (eg the hygiene promoters or community mobilisers of a DMT or partner staff) to use in training community members, and in particular,the water project accountability group (eg Water Users Committee) of the community.

This paper outlines a conceptual framework for conducting this type of overall evaluation of the impacts of a WSP. Drawing examples from existing WSPs in various regions, the framework also illustrates the types of intermediate outcomes that can be expected during WSP implementation. This conceptual framework, which requires some familiarity with WSPs, is designed to be one of a set of tools to guide the implementation and evaluation of Water Safety Plans, along with the WHO guidelines (WHO, 2006), the Water Safety Plan Manual (Bartram et al, 2009) and other tools and resources developed for national or regional use1

‘WSP Snakes & Ladders’ was developed according to the hazards identified and hazard control measures developed for this particular community in Nepal. The game could easily be adapted to any drinking water system or community, ensuring that the hazards and control measures are locally appropriate.

This document describes a preliminary economic assessment of the Koror-Airai, Palau drinking water safety plan. The information generated is to be used to inform stakeholders in Palau of the rewards from supporting the DWSP approach, demonstrating the potential benefits of investing in the Plan.

This paper describes an economic cost-benefit analysis of the Koror-Airai drinking water safety plan from Palau to demonstrate the value to society of the drinking water safety planning approach in the long term. The cost-benefit analysis for implementing the Koror-Airai drinking water safety plan showed that a return of US$ 6.00 was expected on every US$ 1.00 invested towards implementing the plan. The case study provides an effective advocacy tool for the promotion of drinking water safety planning both in the Pacific region and globally.

This paper describes an economic cost-benefit analysis of the Koror-Airai drinking water safety plan from Palau to demonstrate the value to society of the drinking water safety planning approach in the long term. The cost-benefit analysis for implementing the Koror-Airai drinking water safety plan showed that a return of US$ 6.00 was expected on every US$ 1.00 invested towards implementing the plan. The case study provides an effective advocacy tool for the promotion of drinking water safety planning both in the Pacific region and globally.

Da Nang Water Supply Company (DAWACO) and Manila Water Company, Inc. (Manila Water) engaged in a water operator partnership (WOP) to help DAWACO meet World Health Organization (WHO) standards for water quality in their pipe network. Through the partnership, 20,000 residents received improved access to water, and DAWACO increased staff capacity to scale up similar improvements in the remainder of DAWACO’s service area.

This document is a guideline for development and implementation of Water Safety Plans approach in the Pacific. It is primarily for water supply managers, engineers and operators and introduces a more proactive way of managing drinking water supplies through a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach. Implementing DWSPs helps achieve a more effective drinking water supply system.

A brief note on the rationale for the WSP approach, the potential benefits for various stakeholder groups, and the value of incorporating WSPs into policies and regulations.

This case study describes the study of the Composite Correction Programme (CCP) in three different cities in India to prepare for the implementation of Water Safety Plans. CCP is a water treatment plant optimization program that improves water treatment operation with limited capital investment by optimizing particle removal from water treatment plants.

This case study provides an example of a water supplier in Australia which has undertaken research to understand consumer expectations in relation to water quality. This includes the use of surveys and focus groups. It also describes the approach the company takes to handling, recording, and reviewing complaints.

This case study provides an example of where a water supplier in France has established a system to collect consumer acceptability data via a group of volunteers. It provides one particular approach to the collection of opinions on the taste and odour of water supplied.

This case study provides an example of where a water supplier in New Zealand operates a Service Centre to respond quickly to customer complaints and assesses levels of consumer acceptability through analysis of complaint data and questionnaires.

This case study describes the implementation of WSP and lessons learned in Victoria Australia. This case study has a specific focus on auditing WSPS.

This case study provides the progress and lessons learned form the implementation of the Pacific Drinking Water Safety Plan programme.

This case study describes the development of Water Safety Plans in small community water supplies in South Africa. It describes the previous assessment methods as well as the eleven steps taken to develop and implement the WSP.

It is the experience of many water suppliers that illegal or unauthorised access to the distribution network can occur for a variety of reasons. This poses a number of water quality risks and can also create wider problems related to loss of revenue. This document briefly summarises the water quality risks associated with unauthorised access and how they can be mitigated.

This document summarises the type of risks that might occur within treated water storages and how to control them.