Water Safety Plans at small-scale and community level

Prof Richard Carter (WaterAid) and Dr Jen Smith (Cranfield University)

Overview

• The need for Water Safety Plans• WHO / IWA WSP steps• WSP in small-scale / community

managed systems• Liberia (no WSP) community

handpump• Nigeria (no WSP) urban dug

wells• Bangladesh findings from WSP

pilot project• WSP critique• The future – ‘Water Security’

Plans?

The need for Water Safety Plans

• Unreliable and unavailable

• Results are too late

• Requires resources & expertise

• Health

• WASH related illnesses

e.g. diarrhoea

WSP steps

WSP in context

Liberia – community handpumps

• Functioning water committee

• Active community health volunteers

• Best practice followed

Nigeria – urban self supply

• Variable well conditions

• 1 owner, many users

• Limited space (toilet & well)

• Poor health understanding

• Little governmental support

• Reactive culture

Bangladesh – WSP pilot study

• Improved microbial quality:– at tap– in home– Not 0 CFU/100ml

• Significant & consistent reductions in sanitary risks

• Simple monitoring tool (pictorial)• On-going surveillance• Further capacity building (local &

regional)APSU, 2006

WSP for small self-supply and community-managed systems

• What do users care about in terms of water?

• Importance of external support

• Buy-in from all parties

• How do you regulate / monitor / verify?

• Template use – links with complacency?

• Success of localised revisions

• Culture – recording data / proactive approach

Beyond water safety plans (1)

Water consumers want:– ready access– adequate quantity– adequate quality– acceptable reliability– at a price they can afford– without an unrealistic

management burden

Beyond water safety plans (2)Why consumers want

– ready access: convenience, time and energy saving– adequate quantity: for domestic and productive uses– adequate quality: for aesthetic reasons, health– acceptable reliability: convenience and time saving– at a price they can afford: poverty, valuation of water– without an unrealistic management burden: convenience

Outcomes and impacts of improved water supply

Outcomes: Increased consumption of adequate quality water from a reliable, affordable and manageable system - in other words, functioning and utilisation (WHO MEP) of a sustainable service (WaterAid, Triple-S and others).

Impacts: Time and energy saving leading to socio-economic impacts.Enhanced quantity and quality leading to (small) health impacts.

Beyond water safety plans (3)

Not only water quality (safety) for health ... but a fully functioning water supply service in order to achieve the wider outcomes and impacts which consumers want.

... towards water security

Water security has environmental and management dimensions

• Environmental aspects: quality and quantity of water resources, pressures, trends

• Management aspects: financing and institutional arrangements to ensure functional sustainability

Towards ‘water security’ plans

Combining the principles of integrated water resource management

with the practicality of water safety plans

+ Practical+ Simple+ Risk-based+ Achievable- Limited focus

- High-level- Poorly defined- Hard to implement+ Common sense+ Integrated

Moving towards a risk-based approach for ensuring sustainable water supply services

j.a.smith@cranfield.ac.uk

richardcarter@wateraid.org