Resource search

The use of water safety plans (WSPs) has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2004 as a highly effective means of improving water safety management. Experience with the implementation of WSPs is increasing worldwide, but there is no unified or standardized methodology for how the verification of a WSP should be conducted. In this article, we present a thorough evaluation of a specific WSP five years after its initial implementation. We reviewed the risk assessment methodology used by a water utility in Salta, Argentina, and assessed the implementation of control measures. To objectively evaluate the effectiveness of the WSP, we evaluated water quality parameters and customer complaints using a time-series analysis. We show that although some control measures were implemented, and a reduction in risk values was observed, it was not possible to improve long-standing problems in the water supply of the city of Salta, such as the number of consumer complaints or high turbidity levels in the water during the rainy season. We discuss the role of rigorous scientific assessments and the importance of legislation and regulatory bodies in implementing the WSP.

This report provides a synthesis of water safety plan (WSP) implementation efforts in Ghana. It highlights the implementation status, enabling environment, challenges, opportunities, and relevant recommendations for improvement.

聯同《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，此範本納入了醫院設施經理的意見，以協助管理人員制訂和實施水安全計劃，提升醫院內的食水安全。

聯同《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，此範本納入了醫院設施經理的意見，以協助管理人員制訂和實施水安全計劃，提升醫院內的食水安全。

In conjunction with the Guidelines for Drinking Water Safety Plans for Buildings in Hong Kong, this template is prepared incorporating input from facility managers of hospitals for management staff to develop and implement Water Safety Plan to enhance water safety in hospitals.

聯同《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，此範本旨在為安老院舍的業主或院舍管理人員提供易於使用的工具，為具有獨立內部供水系統的院舍制訂和實施水安全計劃，提升食水安全。

聯同《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，此範本旨在為安老院舍的業主或院舍管理人員提供易於使用的工具，為具有獨立內部供水系統的院舍制訂和實施水安全計劃，提升食水安全。

In conjunction with the Guidelines for Drinking Water Safety Plans for Buildings in Hong Kong, this template is prepared as an easy-to-use tool for owners or house management staff of residential care homes for the elderly with an independent internal plumbing system to develop and implement Water Safety Plan to enhance water safety.

聯同《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，此範本旨在為校舍管理負責人提供易於使用的工具，以制訂和實施水安全計劃，提升食水安全。

聯同《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，此範本旨在為校舍管理負責人提供易於使用的工具，以制訂和實施水安全計劃，提升食水安全。

In conjunction with the Guidelines for Drinking Water Safety Plans for Buildings in Hong Kong, this template is prepared as an easy-to-use tool for persons-in-charge of schools’ house management to develop and implement Water Safety Plan to enhance water safety.

聯同《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，此範本旨在為業主或物業管理人提供易於使用的工具，為具有一般供水系統的建築物（如住宅及辦公室大廈）制訂和實施建築物水安全計劃。

聯同《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，此範本旨在為業主或物業管理人提供易於使用的工具，為具有一般供水系統的建築物（如住宅及辦公室大廈）制訂和實施建築物水安全計劃。

In conjunction with the Guidelines for Drinking Water Safety Plans for Buildings in Hong Kong, this template is prepared as an easy-to-use tool for owners and property management agents to develop and implement Water Safety Plan for buildings with general plumbing systems such as residential and office buildings.

根據世界衞生組織的建議，香港水務署於2017年制訂了《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，協助業主和物業管理人制訂和實施水安全計劃，以提升建築物的食水安全。指引及相關範本於2022年進行修訂並納入了最新資訊和實施經驗。截至2023年5月，全港約有4,000幢建築物實施了建築物水安全計劃，涵蓋逾百萬住戶。

根據世界衞生組織的建議，香港水務署於2017年制訂了《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，協助業主和物業管理人制訂和實施水安全計劃，以提升建築物的食水安全。指引及相關範本於2022年進行修訂並納入了最新資訊和實施經驗。截至2023年5月，全港約有4,000幢建築物實施了建築物水安全計劃，涵蓋逾百萬住戶。

Based on the World Health Organization’s recommendations, the Water Supplies Department of Hong Kong developed the Guidelines for Drinking Water Safety Plans for Buildings in Hong Kong in 2017 to assist owners and property management agents in developing and implementing Water Safety Plans to enhance water safety in buildings. The guidelines and associated templates were revised in 2022 incorporating updated information and implementation experiences. As at May 2023, about 4,000 buildings in Hong Kong have implemented Water Safety Plan for Buildings covering more than one million households.

根據世界衞生組織的建議，香港水務署於2017年制訂了《香港建築物食水安全計劃指引》，協助業主和物業管理人制訂和實施水安全計劃，以提升建築物的食水安全。指引及相關範本於2022年進行修訂並納入了最新資訊和實施經驗。截至2023年5月，全港約有4,000幢建築物實施了建築物水安全計劃，涵蓋逾百萬住戶。

This Water safety plan manual provides practical guidance to support development and implementation of water safety planning in accordance with the principles presented in the WHO Guidelines for drinking-water quality.

The manual is targeted at water suppliers and organizations supporting water safety planning programmes, including government agencies responsible for public health, or regulation and surveillance of drinking-water quality, nongovernmental or intergovernmental organizations. The guidance provides a broad range of examples and case studies from lower- to higher-income settings, highlighting practical solutions to real-world challenges from around the globe to help readers apply the guidance in diverse contexts.

This second edition streamlines guidance on the integration of climate resilience and equity into the water safety planning approach, to help support access to safely managed drinking-water services for all users, despite growing uncertainties from a changing climate.

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 10 in the manual for detailed guidance.

This tool provides key questions and considerations for conducting successful water safety plan (WSP) reviews, including post-event reviews (e.g. following a significant incident, near miss or emergency). It can also support reviews with a particular focus on strengthening equity and climate considerations as part of continuous WSP improvement.

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 8 in the manual for detailed guidance.

To support preparedness for emergency responses and unforeseen events in accordance with Module 8, use this checklist to consider what needs to be in place in the local context.

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 4 in the manual for detailed guidance.

This tool provides examples of risk matrices, to illustrate the wide range of options that could be adopted for risk assessment as part of water safety planning.

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 3 in the manual for detailed guidance.

WSP teams can use this tool to help identify possible threats to water safety, which will inform the identification of hazards and hazardous events (Module 3).

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 supply (Module 2). It includes key information to consider and summarize when describing each stage of the water supply, including:

• general system information (including equity- and climate-related aspects);
• source (including surface water and groundwater aspects, and the catchment);
• treatment;
• distribution and storage;
• user practices (including buildings);
• water safety aspects (e.g. national drinking-water quality regulations and standards, historical water quality data, customer notifications and complaints); and
• known or potential problems in the system.

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-scale water supplies. It clearly emphasizes the importance of preventing waterborne disease, and supports communities in dealing with the everyday challenges of maintaining a reliable and safe water supply.

This second, updated edition of WHO’s Water safety plan: a field guide to improving drinking-water safety in small communities provides a step-by-step introduction to the WSP approach and includes a range of ready-to-use templates to assist those involved in rural water supply with developing and implementing their own WSPs.

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 materials are intended to facilitate a stakeholder workshop to discuss the ‘key factors and principles’ for establishing a successful and sustainable audit programme, the output of which is a detailed action plan for the development (or advancement) of a context-appropriate national audit scheme.

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 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 from a situation where they are struggling to deliver water services to where basic service levels in terms of water quality, quantity, accessibility, reliability, affordability, and acceptability are met. Meeting these basic service levels provides a strong foundation for the utility to progressively move up the ladder of delivering improved services.

Access the publication on IWAP.

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.

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 programs apply to all water supplies in all countries, including small community supplies and large urban systems in both developed and developing settings. As of 2017, more than 90 countries had adopted various permutations of WSPs at different scales, ranging from limited-scale voluntary pilot programs to nationwide implementation mandated by legislative requirements. Tools to support WSP implementation include primary and supplemental manuals in multiple languages, training resources, assessment tools, and some country-specific guidelines and case studies.

Systems employing the WSP approach seek to incrementally improve water quality and security by reducing risks and increasing resilience over time. To maintain WSP effectiveness, water supply managers periodically update WSPs to integrate knowledge about prior, existing, and potential future risks. Effectively implemented WSPs may translate to positive health and other impacts. Impact evaluation has centered on a logic model developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as WHO-refined indicators that compare water system performance to pre-WSP baseline conditions. Potential benefits of WSPs include improved cost efficiency, water quality, water conservation, regulatory compliance, operational performance, and disease reduction. Available research shows outcomes vary depending on site-specific context, and challenges remain in using WSPs to achieve lasting improvements in water safety. Future directions for WSP development include strengthening and sustaining capacity-building to achieve consistent application and quality, refining evaluation indicators to better reveal linked outcomes (including economic impacts), and incorporating social equity and climate change readiness.

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 implementing WSPs for climate resiliance. It was piloted in large (urban), professionally managed water supplies in limited resource settings, however, can also be applied and adapted for water supplies in other settings. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, and may need to be adapted for application in the local context. It is intended to complement existing comprehensive guidance for implementation by providing a tool for practical application.

The successful development and implementation of WSPs have many benefits common to all drinking water systems, with some that are unique to each system. The major benefit of implementation contributes to improving drinking water safety and quality. To achieve this WSPs provide a framework for risk reduction prevention of hazards and a better response to emergencies, which not only improves public health but can ensure better watershed management and resilience to climate impacts.

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 and resilience in one location, covering theory, guidance and practical tools. By addressing disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in a comprehensive approach across the disaster and climate risk continuum, it serves as a contribution to the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific.

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 designed such that the global WSP community can benefit from viewing. For more information and to view the videos, visit the Water safety planning training videos page.

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 access to safe and affordable drinking-water for all. However, many people cannot yet claim their fundamental right to water, and inequalities to safe water access is felt disproportionately by those who are disadvantaged socially, economically, demographically, or geographically.

Read more on how to engage vulnerable groups in CR WSP in this factsheet.

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'Eau (PGSSE), à mieux comprendre les questions liées aux changements climatiques et à soutenir l'identifi cation et la gestion des risques liés aux changements climatiques dans le cadre du processus du PGSSE.

Le document aidera les professionnels du secteur, en particulier les fournisseurs d'eau et les équipes du PGSSE à identifi er et à intégrer les questions plus larges du changement climatique, de la réduction des risques de catastrophe (RRC) et de la gestion intégrée des ressources en eau (GIRE) en tant qu'approches contributives importantes au processus du PGSSE.

https://iwaponline.com/ebooks/book/812/Plans-de-gestion-de-la-securite-sanitaire-de-l-eau

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 aspects of the WSP implementation

This Operational Policy is divided into three distinct sections: Catchment, Treatment and Distribution, and provides information on the minimum requirements for each part of the catchment-to-consumer WSP framework.

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, in close collaboration with the World health Organization, assisted in developing water safety planning guidelines for West Bengal under a project aiming to improve rural drinking water delivery service schemes in the state. The publication outlines phases of the water safety plan, which can also be applied to developing bulk water supply systems.

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-water for all.
Since  its adoption,  national governments have included them in national legislation to promote their implementation because of its immense benefits.

In scaling up effective up of WSP implementation across these different countries, this worldwide accepted approach needs to be supported by tools, resources, regulations and policies, guidelines to create the enabling environment and support stakeholder participation at the national level.

IWA with support from OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), under the Climate Resilient Water Safety Planning Project has produced this document with a summary of existing national policy and guidelines to support WSP implementation.