New Water Safety Plan Manual release provides guidance for safe drinking water for water suppliers, governments.
- March 1, 2023
- Posted by: Sinead Sprigg
- Category: Corporate, Global, Reports, Water Treatment, North America
The International Water Association (IWA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have released the second edition of the Water Safety Plan Manual, offering practical guidance for the development and implementation of water safety planning in accordance with WHO guidelines for drinking water quality. Water safety planning is the most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of a drinking-water supply.
The manual is intended for water suppliers and organisations supporting water safety planning programmes, including government agencies responsible for public health, regulation, and surveillance of drinking water quality, as well as non-governmental and intergovernmental organisations.
It provides examples and case studies from low- to high-income settings, highlighting practical solutions to real-world challenges from around the globe to help readers apply the guidance in diverse contexts.
The manual covers risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. It provides guidance on the development of monitoring programmes, contingency planning, and documentation of water safety plans.
Updates and new guidance address emerging challenges in the water sector, such as climate change, equity, and resilience. Strengthening resilience can support water suppliers to better anticipate, respond to, cope with, recover quickly from, and adapt to, future shocks and stresses associated with climate variability and change.
“We are excited to release this updated Water Safety Plan Manual, which provides practical guidance and case studies to support the development and implementation of water safety planning in diverse contexts,” said Dr Kala Vairavamoorthy, Executive Director of the International Water Association.
He added: “Water safety planning is a central recommendation of WHO’s Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality, and as we accelerate progress on achieving SDG 6.1, this second edition will better support practitioners to provide more resilient and safer drinking water services to safeguard the health of all users.”
The manual can be viewed on the IWA website.