Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014;4(1):171-181.
doi: 10.2166/washdev.2013.159.

Development of indicators for measuring outcomes of water safety plans

Gabriella Lockhart  1 , William E Oswald  1 , Brian Hubbard  1 , Elizabeth Medlin  1 , Richard J Gelting  1
Affiliations

Development of indicators for measuring outcomes of water safety plans

Gabriella Lockhart et al. J Water Sanit Hyg Dev. 2014.

Abstract

Water safety plans (WSPs) are endorsed by the World Health Organization as the most effective method of protecting a water supply. With the increase in WSPs worldwide, several valuable resources have been developed to assist practitioners in the implementation of WSPs, yet there is still a need for a practical and standardized method of evaluating WSP effectiveness. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a conceptual framework for the evaluation of WSPs, presenting four key outcomes of the WSP process: institutional, operational, financial and policy change. In this paper, we seek to operationalize this conceptual framework by providing a set of simple and practical indicators for assessing WSP outcomes. Using CDC's WSP framework as a foundation and incorporating various existing performance monitoring indicators for water utilities, we developed a set of approximately 25 indicators of institutional, operational, financial and policy change within the WSP context. These outcome indicators hold great potential for the continued implementation and expansion of WSPs worldwide. Having a defined framework for evaluating a WSP's effectiveness, along with a set of measurable indicators by which to carry out that evaluation, will help implementers assess key WSP outcomes internally, as well as benchmark their progress against other WSPs in their region and globally.

Keywords: drinking water; evaluation; indicators; outcomes; water safety plans.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual framework for the evaluation of water safety plans (Gelting et al. 2012).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Water safety plan conceptual framework outcomes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alegre H, Baptista JM, Cabrera E, Jr, Cubillo F, Duarte P, Hirner W, Merkel W, Parena R. Performance Indicators for Water Supply Services. 2. IWA Publishing; London, UK: 2006.
    1. Bartram J, Corrales L, Davidson A, Deere D, Gordon B, Howard G, Rinehold A, Stevens M. Water Safety Plan Manual: Step-by-Step Risk Management for Drinking-Water Suppliers. World Health Organization; Geneva: 2009.
    1. Bhandari B, Grant M. User satisfaction and sustainability of drinking water schemes in rural communities of Nepal. Sustainability: Science, Practice & Policy. 2007;3(1):12–20.
    1. DiMaggio P, Powell W. The iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review. 1983;48(2):147–160.
    1. Dyck A, Exner M, Kramer A. Experimental based experiences with the introduction of a water safety plan for a multi-located university clinic and its efficacy according to WHO recommendations. BMC Public Health. 2007;7(34) Available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/7/34. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources