Development ofã tool to support operationalising water safety plans: experiences fromã national water utility in Ghana

Abstract

Since their incorporation into the 2004 version of the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (GDWQ), Water Safety Plans (WSPs) continue to be the pre-eminent process for the delivery of safe drinking water to consumers. WSPsãchieve this by prioritising proactive, rather than reactive, management of risks to drinking water quality. Since the use of WSPs was incorporated into the GDWQ,ã range of supporting resources have been produced toãssist water suppliers in preparing WSPs. Producingã robust WSP isãn important first step in the management of risk, but in many cases, the implementation of WSPs presents significant challenges, particularly in relation to the implementation of Module 5 (implementing improvements)ãnd Module 6 (monitoring of control measures). Toãddress barriers to WSP implementation, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), inã peer-to-peer partnership with two Australian water utilities, developedã pilot WSP implementation strategy for one of the company's drinking water supply systems. One of the outputs of the collaboration was the development ofã framework for operationalising water safety planning, which incorporates basic guidance for embedding the WSP within routine operations, in order to ensure the safe management of drinking water.