Find WSP Resources

This framework provides the strategic blueprint to develop a climate orientated risk assessment and management approach for drinking-water supplies, from catchment to consumer. Considered global best practice, WHO advocates for the WSP approach as the most consistent means to ensure the safe and reliable supply of safe drinking-water. Adapted to the Ethiopia...

This water safety plan (WSP) template was developed to support the integration of climate risks into the WSP approach in rural areas of the United Rep. of Tanzania. Examples are presented on how to complete the template, and the information should be considered and customized to the local context. This template is  based on WHO......

This document presents case studies from lower and higher income settings around the world that highlight O&M benefits resulting from WSP implementation. These case studies contribute to a growing body of information on the outcomes of water safety planning and may be useful in building support for WSPs among water sector senior managers, operational sta...

Aims: The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended Water Safety Plans (WSPs) since 2004 as a means to reduce drinking water contamination and risks to human health. These risk management programs have shown promise across several potential areas of evaluation, such as economic benefits and regulatory compliance. Since WSPs are largely carried out by p...

Several Travel-associated Legionnaires’ disease (TALD) cases occur annually in Europe. Except from the most obvious sites (cooling towers and hot water systems), infections can also be associated with recreational, water feature, and garden areas of hotels. This argument is of great interest to better comprehend the colonization and to calculate the risk t...

Climate-resilient water safety plans (CR-WSPs) extend the traditional WSP framework by also identifying and managing climate-related impacts on water supply systems to strengthen resilience. This compilation of information on hazardous events and their causes, including those related to climate impacts, aims to support practitioners, particularly water suppl...

The World Health Organization has recommended Water Safety Plans (WSPs), a holistic risk assessment and risk management approach, for drinking-water suppliers across low-, middle- and high-income countries, since publishing its 2004 Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality. While rapid WSP adoption has occurred, capacity is still catching up to implementation n...

In many countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region, drinking water is not used directly from the tap and faecal contamination of water sources is prevalent. As reflected in Sustainable Development Goal 6, access to safer drinking water is one of the most successful ways of preventing disease. The WHO Water Safety......

The U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act required states to develop source water assessment programs identifying existing and potential contamination sources; however, comprehensive risk prioritization and management approaches for surface water supplies have seen limited application. This participatory study assessed which permutation(s) of risk management framewor...

Beautiful short film on how to achieve safe drinking-water by Björn Weber, Oliver Meinborn and Grimme-price winner Ute Hilgeford. Launched by the World Health Organization on World Water Day 2019. The film-makers accompany a community in the mountains of Tajikistan – where water safety plans have been introduced for the first time in Central Asia.......

The effect of climate change on the hydrological cycle is becoming a growing phenomenon and resulting in impacts including flood and drought events, disappearance of glaciers, decrease in groundwater recharge, and water quality degradation (e.g. oxygen depletion in water reservoirs during extreme heat events) (WHO, 2017). Such events are becoming increasingl...

In recent years, the water safety plan approach has been extended towards climate-resilient water safety planning. This happened in response to increasing insight into impacts of climate on drinking-water and required adaptation to anticipated climate change. Literature was reviewed for published guidance and case examples, documenting how to consider climat...

This template is prepared based on recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) with an aim to assisting the management staff of a hospital to develop and implement Water Safety Plan (WSP) to enhance water safety. It covers the essential elements of WSPs and common requirements applicable to the plumbing layout of hospitals. In additional......

The World Health Organization (WHO) promotes water safety plans (WSPs) – a risk-based management approach – for premise plumbing systems in buildings to prevent deterioration of drinking-water quality. Experience with the implementation of WSPs in buildings were gathered within a pilot project in Germany. The project included an evaluation of the feasibi...

Unsafe drinking water is a recognized health threat in Ethiopia, and climate change, rapid population growth, urbanization and agricultural practices put intense pressure on availability and quality of water. Climate change-related health problems due to floods and waterborne diseases are increasing. With increasing insight into impacts of climate change and...

In the Netherlands, safe and sufficient drinking water is provided to the general population by ten drinking water companies. To guarantee safe drinking water the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a Water Safety Plan (WSP), a Risk Assessment and a Risk Management (RA/RM) framework. The objective of the study was to identify legally required RA......

Set in Iceland, this short video documents how sanitary inspections can be applied as a basic risk management tool for small water supplies. For more information, visit: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/department-civil-environmental-engineering/research/water-environment-and-health-engineering-group...

Set in Uganda, this short video documents how sanitary inspections can be applied as a basic risk management tool for small water supplies in resource limited settings. For more information, visit: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/department-civil-environmental-engineering/research/water-environment-and-health-engineering-group...

This water safety plan country report for Sri Lanka shares the key learnings from the country’s WSP journey and achievements. The lessons learned can support the broader WSP global community for successful and practical WSP implementation....

Ensuring safe drinking-water is the target of the Water Safety Plan (WSP) approach, which has been successfully applied to a large number of water supply systems around the world. Effective country-wide scaling up of WSP implementation requires an enabling environment at the policy level. By utilizing a multi-step mixed methods approach, this study summarize...

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) have a significant impact on health and, of particular concern as described in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Extreme Events, are the risks of more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as floods, cyclones and droughts, alongside increasing temperatures. Such extremes pos...

Climate resilience needs to be built and coordinated at the basin, city and utility level to ensure adaptive measures for water systems are effective and integrate other urban services.  IWA and partners undertook a series of webinar on climate smart utilities to showcase what utilities are doing to address climate change both from a mitigation......

Water Safety Planning (WSP), an approach which aims at ensuring safe drinking-water thorough a comprehensive risk system assessment and management process since its adoption by the International Water Association (IWA) and World Health Organization (WHO) seeks to support achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.1 to provide safe drinking-wat...

This publication provides practical guidance and best practices on the stages of developing safe rural drinking water delivery service schemes in West Bengal and other areas in India. Water safety planning is considered an international best practice for assessing and managing public health risks from drinking water supply systems. The Asian Development Bank...

This purpose of this Operational Policy is to provide an overview of the minimum requirements for the preparation and implementation of Water Safety Plans (WSPs) across a water supply system. This Operational Policy is not intended to replace any applicable regulatory requirements with respect to WSPs, but, rather, to provide some guidance on important aspec...

Ce guide présente l’état actuel des connaissances sur les effets des changements climatiques sur le cycle de l’eau ainsi que les impacts sanitaires associés. Il est destiné à aider les fournisseurs d’eau qui se sont engagés à utiliser ou qui utilisent déjà l’approche du Plan de Gestion de la Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Ea...

Training videos on water safety planning are now available. The videos cover an introduction to water safety plan principles and steps, and water safety plan auditing. These videos are recordings from a bilateral training event organized by the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regional Offices, with support from WHO Headquarters. The content has been....

Water is a fundamental need in every person’s life and ensuring access to safe water for all without discrimination is a human right, recognized by the United Nations (UN) in 2010. The global commitment to safe water for all is further demonstrated through the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 targets to achieve universal and equitable......

These guidelines and training materials have been produced by UNICEF Pacific and encompass a number of tools to expand and strengthen the work of governments and other partners to improve water, sanitation and hygiene services, whilst building resilience for communities in the Pacific. The guidance collates current approaches and previous guidance on WASH an...

Water safety plans (WSPs) represent a holistic risk assessment and management approach covering all steps in the water supply process from the catchment to the consumer. Since 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) has formally recommended WSPs as a public health intervention to consistently ensure the safety of drinking water. These risk management progr...

This interactive tool supports the implementation of the WSP step of hazard assessment by providing an overview of hazardous events, including those relating to climate change. The compilation was piloted and adapted based on experiences gathered, and aims to support practitioners, particularly water suppliers, health agencies and consultants, in implementin...

Tailored guidance package to support rural water safety planning in Sri Lanka. Includes stepwise instructions for trainers to conduct a rural WSP training incorporating a field visit....

This publication is a guideline or how-to manual on preparing water service delivery plans with a focus on small to medium sized organised water utilities having with approximately 5,000 to over 100,000 connections mainly in areas with limited capacity and resources. The manual is simplified enough to ensure that these utilities are able to move......

The Water Safety Conference 2022 recording are available to the public under the “Conference record” page on the conference webpage. https://watersafety2022.org/conference-record/...

This package of materials is intended to support countries in developing (or strengthening) national schemes for regulatory auditing of water safety plans. Topics addressed include audit mandates and drivers, standardized audit criteria, auditor qualification and selection processes, financing and other mechanisms for audit functionality and sustainability. ...

The WHO Guidelines for drinking-water quality recommend the water safety plan (‎WSP)‎ approach as the most effective way of ensuring continuous provision of safe drinking-water. The challenges related to drinking-water supply in rural areas and small towns are of notable concern globally, but the WSP approach has been proven to work effectively in small-...

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 tool is intended to support the practical application of the guidance presented in the Water safety plan manual: step-by-step risk management for drinking-water suppliers, second edition (WHO & IWA, 2023). Refer to Module 2 in the manual for detailed guidance. The checklist below supports water safety plan (WSP) teams with describing the water suppl...