Water safety plans for water supply utilities in China, Cuba, France, Morocco and Spain: costs, benefits, and enabling environment elements

Abstract

Water Safety Plans (WSPs) are a management tool to identify and prioritize risks and implement appropriate control measures throughout the water supply chain, from catchment to consumer. WSPs have been implemented in over 90 countries; yet, costs, benefits and the enabling environment elements necessary for WSP implementation are under-studied. To better understand these factors, we conducted interviews with WSP implementation management teams from 20 private urban water utilities in China, Cuba, France, Morocco and Spain in 2014. Collectively, these utilities serve 10.6 million consumers and supply over 2.2 million m³/day of water to consumers. Time for WSP implementation to achieve certification averaged 13 months. The main startup cost was staff time, averaging 16.2 full-time equivalent person-months. Additional costs, averaging €16,777, were for training staff, hiring consultants, purchasing equipment, and certifying WSPs. Benefits commonly reported included improved hazard control, treatment practices, record keeping, and client and health agency confidence.

Keywords: WSP; Water quality; risk management; water supply.

Figure 1.

Motivations for water safety plan implementation.

Figure 2.

Phase I water safety plan costs, excluding personnel time.

Figure 3.

Water safety plan benefits reported in the risk-control category.

Figure 4.

Water safety plan benefits reported in the operation and management category.

Figure 5.

Water safety plan benefits reported in the reputation-communication category.

Figure 6.

Reported WSP phase I implementation challenges.

Figure 7.

Reported enabling environment elements for WSP implementation, phase I and II.