Water Safety Planning: tools for development and implementation

IWA Water safety planning; conventional approach; web-based tools; water supply; planning and operation

Target Audience

Water utility operators, water utility managers, regulators, water safety planning team members, water supply system operations and maintenance personnel

Description

This webinar is being hosted by the IWA Water Safety Planning Specialist Group and is part of their preparation for the 2022 International Conference for Water Safety,  June 22-24, 2022, in Narvik (Norway).

Water Safety Planning (WSP) provides water suppliers with a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach to managing water supplies with other key stakeholders. It is a particularly useful approach for low- and middle-income countries. Successful implementation of WSP can improve drinking water quality, accrue operational efficiencies and provide a robust framework to better target more sustainable long-term capital investments. Such preventative management and planning approaches provide a simple and robust framework for water utilities to effectively manage water supplies, thereby contributing to the SDG6 and the 2030 Agenda.  

WSPs are widely recognised as the most reliable and effective way to manage drinking water supplies to safeguard public health consistently. Since their inclusion in international reference documents in 2004 (WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality), a significant number of water suppliers have implemented WSPs, and several national governments promote their implementation or have included them in national policy and legislation. Mobilising resources and maintaining momentum for WSP activities can be achieved in various ways, including traditional/manual management methods or innovative web-based and electronic management methods.  

This webinar will demonstrate through practical cases from Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa how water utilities are utilising conventional word/excel based documents or software either developed with in-house IT expertise or commercially available products to manage WSP documentation and implementation.  

Learning Objectives

During the webinar, participants will be able to: 

  • Learn about best practices utilities are applying to manage the development and implementation of Water Safety Plans. 
  • Identify needs and requirements for successfully implementing a digital tool to manage water safety planning activities.  
  • Choose the appropriate tool for local settings to develop and implement robust and resilient water safety planning that enables utilities to rapidly respond to hazards and risks.

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Additional Resources

Presentation slides: download here

Q&A report: download here

 

Articles:

 

Websites:

Host

International Water Association & IWA Specialist Group "Water Safety Planning"

Panelists

  • Philip de Souza, Emanti Management, South Africa (moderator)
  • Rui Sancho, Co-chair of IWA Water Safety Planning Specialist Group, Portugal
  • Martin Offerman, IWW Zentrum Wasser, Stellvertretender Bereichsleiter Wasserökonomie & Management, Germany
  • Asoka Jayaratne, Yarra Valley Water, Water Quality Specialist, Australia
  • Matthew Higginbotham, Drinking Water Quality Management Systems Lead, Melbourne Water, Australia
  • Agung Putra Kusuma, Tugu Tirta Water Works, Indonesia