A commentary on recent water safety initiatives in the context of water utility risk management.

Over the last decade, suppliers of drinking water have recognised the limitations of relying solely on end-product monitoring to ensure safe water quality and have sought to reinforce their approach by adopting preventative strategies where risks are proactively identified, assessed and managed. This is leading to the development of water safety plans; structured ‘route maps’ for managing risks to water supply, from catchment to consumer taps. This paper reviews the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) procedure on which many water safety plans are based and considers its appropriateness in the context of drinking water risk management. We examine water safety plans in a broad context, looking at a variety of monitoring, optimisation and risk management initiatives that can be taken to improve drinking water safety. These are cross-compared using a simple framework that facilitates an integrated approach to water safety. Finally, we look at how risk management practices are being integrated across water companies and how this is likely to affect the future development of water safety p

Implementing water safety plans: experiences from Uganda

The Quality Control Department (QCD) of National Water and Sewerage Cooperation (NWSC) is responsible for process and water quality monitoring in 15 urban centres in Uganda, East Africa. Since 2002, NWSC has been working with the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC), UK on a research project entitled “Risk Assessment and Management of piped urban water supply” (Contract DFID KaR R8029). The research explored the development of a new approach to controlling water quality in piped water systems termed Water Safety Plans (WSPs). WSPs are based on the principles of Hazard Assessment and Critical Control Point (HACCP) used in the food industry and were recently codified in the 3rd edition of the World Health Organisation (WHO) global Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (GDWQ). NWSC is the first water utility in the developing world to implement WSPs. This paper is the fourth in a series, paper one entitled “Improving risk assessment and management in urban water supplies” was presented at the 28th WEDC Conference, paper two and three entitled “Static risk mapping using a Geographic Information system” and “System assessment to develop water safety plans” was presented at the 29th WEDC Conference. This paper discusses the experiences of NWSC in implementing the new approach in two of its urban centres, and presents lessons learnt during the process

Water safety plans and climate change mitigation

[Excerpt] Definition Quality water at affordable prices for all is a key condition for the promotion of public health, environmental sustainability, and quality and safety of life. In a context of growing external uncertainties arising from changes in the climate and the environment, ensuring these conditions is an upward concern and is of utmost relevance to increase scientific research on the impacts of climate change on water quality modification and in minimization/mitigation strategies

System assessment to develop water safety plans

Water Safety Plans (WSPs) are risk management tools designed to assure the safety of drinking water. WSPs have the advantage that they help minimise the risks to water contamination through identification and management of vulnerable points within a water supply system, which could allow microbial hazards to enter. This paper discusses one of the crucial elements in establishing WSPs, the system assessment. It outlines findings from fieldwork undertaken on a UK, Department for International Development (DFID) funded project on development of WSPs in Kampala, Uganda

Community use of H2S (hydrogen sulphide) as a verification tool for water safety plans

Through the development of Water Safety Plans at the household level it is important that while the community understand their system of water delivery, measures are taken to protect their water source. It has been found that the cycle and introduction of Water Safety Plans will only be complete with the introduction of household’s water treatment and safe storage. In the rural setting of Sri Lanka the households are often the producer of water, it is important that the household is empowered to mitigate risks and has a method to test their water for harmful microbiological contamination. The H2S provides a tool for verification and provides an extrinsic motivation for the use of effective purification methods. Through the implementation of the Water Safety Plans and the verification by the use of H2S Kit, can households be confident their water is safe to drink

Cleaner, safer water through water safety plans

National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Team\u2019s Water Safety Plan Assistance.wsp_success_story.pd

Sustainability of Water Safety Plans Developed in Sub-Saharan Africa

In developing countries, the drinking water supply is still an open issue. In sub-Saharan Africa, only 68% of the population has access to improved sources of drinking water. Moreover, some regions are affected by geogenic contaminants (e.g., fluoride and arsenic) and the lack of access to sanitation facilities and hygiene practices causes high microbiological contamination of drinking water in the supply chain. The Water Safety Plan (WSP) approach introduced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2004 is now under development in several developing countries in order to face up to these issues. The WSP approach was elaborated within two cooperation projects implemented in rural areas of Burkina Faso and Senegal by two Italian NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations). In order to evaluate its sustainability, a questionnaire based on five different sustainability elements and a cost and time consumption evaluation were carried out and applied in both the case studies. Results demonstrated that the questionnaire can provide a useful and interesting overview regarding the sustainability of the WSP; however, further surveys in the field are recommended for gathering more information. Time and costs related to the WSP elaboration, implementation, and management were demonstrated not to be negligible and above all strongly dependent on water quality and the water supply system complexity

PERCEPTION OF WATER USERS TO HEALTH IMPACTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR URBAN SELF SUPPLY WATER SAFETY PLANS

Water safety plans were introduced ten years ago in international guidance documents.ª¤? The plans have been extensively applied across developed and developing countries and for rural and urban water supply systems.ª¤? The adoption and development of the same for self supply systems is, however, long coming.ª¤? Like any intervention, water safety plans require respectively, adoption, development, and implementation.ª¤? Water safety policy will be ineffective and technically useless without adoption.ª¤? Adoption is linked with perception and attitude of water users, who in the context of self supply systems, are also the asset (source) owners, the water supplier, and invariably, the adopters.ª¤? This paper investigates water user«¤??s insight to health impact in Abeokuta, Nigeria. The study is premised within a wider research, in which a total of 105 interviews were conducted betweenª¤? 2007 and 2008, towardsª¤? appropriate water safety plans for self supply systems.ª¤? The interviews were semi-structured with open ended questions.ª¤? 61 one respondents were interviewed on health related matters. Details of the raw data were subsequently coded. Findings revealed a general denial attitude to health related impact and five main factors that modulate the identified stance.ª¤? The paper discusses how the factors combine to shape perception to health impacts and examine the implications on water safety planning for particularly self supply systems.ª¤

PERCEPTION OF WATER USERS TO HEALTH IMPACTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR URBAN SELF SUPPLY WATER SAFETY PLANS

Water safety plans were introduced ten years ago in international guidance documents.ª¤? The plans have been extensively applied across developed and developing countries and for rural and urban water supply systems.ª¤? The adoption and development of the same for self supply systems is, however, long coming.ª¤? Like any intervention, water safety plans require respectively, adoption, development, and implementation.ª¤? Water safety policy will be ineffective and technically useless without adoption.ª¤? Adoption is linked with perception and attitude of water users, who in the context of self supply systems, are also the asset (source) owners, the water supplier, and invariably, the adopters.ª¤? This paper investigates water user«¤??s insight to health impact in Abeokuta, Nigeria. The study is premised within a wider research, in which a total of 105 interviews were conducted betweenª¤? 2007 and 2008, towardsª¤? appropriate water safety plans for self supply systems.ª¤? The interviews were semi-structured with open ended questions.ª¤? 61 one respondents were interviewed on health related matters. Details of the raw data were subsequently coded. Findings revealed a general denial attitude to health related impact and five main factors that modulate the identified stance.ª¤? The paper discusses how the factors combine to shape perception to health impacts and examine the implications on water safety planning for particularly self supply systems.ª¤