Water Safety Planning is a proactive and comprehensive risk assessment and management approach to ensure the safety of drinking water supplies. Since their introduction in 2004, water safety plans (WSPs) have been implemented in over 90 countries, with many countries now promoting WSP implementation or requiring WSPs in national legislation. Successful implementation of WSPs can improve drinking water quality, and enhance operational efficiencies and safe management practices, towards better public health outcomes.

The first edition of the WSP manual (available to download here) was published in 2009 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Water Association (IWA) and has supported utilities to apply water safety planning to assess and manage risks systematically. Since the WSP manual’s introduction, widespread uptake of the guidance has yielded many valuable lessons and identified challenges and opportunities for effective WSP development and implementation.

This second edition reflects more than 10 years of practical experience with the global application of water safety planning since the first edition was published. Hosted by the IWA WSP Specialist Group (learn about the group here), in conjunction with WHO and IWA, this webinar will provide a platform to introduce the second edition of the WSP manual, highlighting the significant changes to the new edition and the critical lessons learnt from practical implementation that have informed the revision.

A panel made up of experts will share practical experiences from diverse contexts on key aspects that have driven the revision, including strategies to strengthen WSP implementation, and how the WSP approach can provide an effective framework to integrate consideration of equity and strengthen the resilience of water supplies to the growing uncertainties arising from climate variability and change.