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Water Safety Plan for Small Community Water Supply

Schemes

Dr S K WeragodaChief Engineer

Greater Dambulla WSP

01-04-2014

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Contents

• Introduction

• History of application in Sri Lanka

• Importance of applying WSPs

• Basic concepts in application of WSPs

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Introduction• Water Quality Surveillance or water quality testing is tedious

and resource wasting approach in ensuring water quality as

testing of sample is key factor.

• Application of ISO 9001 in water sector does not consider any

impact on water quality before the intake.

• Hence, Water Safety Plan (WSP) has become the principal tool

to assure safe drinking water (3rd and 4th Edition of WHO’s DWA

guidelines).

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WHO Water Safety Framework

Health- based targets

Water Safety Plans

System Assessment Monitoring

Management, Documentation & Communication

Surveillance

Public health context & health outcome

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From Theory to Best Practice

2003HACCP principles applied (Iceland,

Australia)

2004- 2006Implementation of WSPs (Uganda, Portugal, Brazil)

2010 onwardsMainstreamed by

utilities, regulators, banks, NGOs

2004WSPs included in

WHO GDWQ & IWA Bonn Charter

2007WSPs part of

E&W regulations

2009WSP auditing (NZ,

Australia, UK)

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History of Application of WSPs in Sri Lanka

• December 2004 tsunami highlighted the need of a proper water

surveillance system.

• Hepatitis A in 2007 in Gampola has shown the importance of

having a proper water quality management system

• Understanding the need;

– First training on WSP application in Colombo in Year 2010

– APN funded project between Sri Lanka and Singapore in Year 2011 –

2012

– WHO funded training program in Kandy in Year 2013

– Commenced to develop six WSPs

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How much water in the Human body?

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Adequate Water Helps Prevent…

• Headaches• Constipation• Kidney stones• Bladder cancer • Exhaustion and heat stroke• Heart attacks and strokes• ………..

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If

• Quality of the water is ???…..

• Physical • Biological• Chemical

From catchment to end user

From distribution to end user

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WSP application in Small Community WSSs

• What are small community water supply schemes? SCWSSs are defined

based on their population size, treatment capacity, treatment technology,

etc.

• What is a water safety plan? WSP approach is the assessment,

prioritization and continuous management of risk to water safety from

catchment to consumer.

• Why should apply WSPs to SCWSSs? Adopting an incremental improvement

plan means that improvements are made over time, moving gradually

towards meeting community, local or national water quality targets or

objectives.

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Water Safety Plan Continuous Improvement

Cycle(For Small Scale WTP)

Task 1 – Engage community and assemble a water safety

plan team

Task 2 – Describe the community water supply

Task 3 – Identify and assess hazards, hazardous events,

risk and existing control measures

Task 4 – Develop and implement an incremental

improvement plan

Task 5 – Monitor control measures and verify the effectiveness of the WSP

Task 6 – Document, review and improve all aspects of

WSP implementation

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WSP Ehiliyagoda

WBMLI Weerasekara,Senior Chemist,

Kegalle.

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WSP committee (Task 01)

1. Regional Level1. AGM - Coordinator2. Manager (O&M) - Member3. RSC Chemist - Team Leader4. CE(P&D) - Member5. Regional/Senior Chemist - Member6. Engineer(O&M) - Member7. Mechanical Engineer - Member8. Sociologist - Member 9. OIC - Member10. Dis. Envi. Committee - Member11. Catchment Dwellers - Member

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WSP committee con.

2. Top Level1. GM - Coordinator2. COL/AGM(WQ) - Team Leader3. Add. GMM - Member4. DGMM - Member5. AGM(Sociology) - Member6. RSC Chemists - Member7. Director (Health) - Member

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WSP Committee• Engaging the community and assembling a WSP team are

an essential means to:

– identify the community’s aspirations and needs in respect of

their water supply, through an inclusive process that considers

gender as well as elderly and vulnerable community members;

– balance water supply needs against competing community-level

priorities, such as housing and education;

– tap into local knowledge and experience in the identification,

assessment and management of risks;

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WSP Committee• Engaging the community and assembling a WSP team are an

essential means to:

– identify resources within the community that can be called upon

when needed;

– initiate a dialogue between the community and other stakeholders

(government, NGOs, water service delivery and public health

agencies) on the benefits and requirements of a well-functioning

water supply and the joint preparation of a WSP;

– raise awareness of the role that community members can play in

protecting and improving their water supply.

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Catchment

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WSP Module 02 (Task 02)

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Hazard (contaminant)A biological, chemical or physical property which may cause a

product to be unsafe for consumption • Biological - bacteria, viruses, protozoa, algae • Chemical – corrosion, pesticides, disinfection by products• Physical – pH, temperature, discolouration• Radiological

Hazardous Event (cause)• A practice or outcome that causes the hazard to become a

problem by its introduction into or proliferation in the water product

WSP Module 3 (Task 03)Hazard and Hazardous Event

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Risk MatrixSeverity/ Consequences

No/ Minor impact

Moderate Impact

Major Impact

Likelihood

Likely Medium High HighPossible Low Medium HighUnlikely Low Low Medium

High : High priority and requires urgent improvement in control measuresMedium : Medium or long term priority and requires improvement in control measures in the medium and long termLow : Not a priority

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Benefits of a WSP

• Avoid incidents which impact public health

• Improved compliance with regulatory and other requirements

• Improved consumer trust

• Improved confidence of key stakeholders

• Cost effectiveness and investment planning

• Improved staff commitment

• Competition with peers

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Global Water Crisis

A child dies every 15 seconds from a water-borne disease.

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But whole world worries about a single plane crash?

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Thank You