Lessons learned from implementing
drinking water safety plans in the
Pacific
Water Safety Conference (2-4 Nov 2010)
Kuching, Malaysia
Managing Drinking Water Quality for Public Health
Khatri, K, S. Iddings, M. Overmars, T. Hasan and A. Freshwater
Water Safety Conference
November 2-4 2010, Kuching, Malaysia
Map of Western Pacific region
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Background and introduction
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2800 deaths in the Pacific region mostly children
under the age of five years attribute from acute
diarrhoea.
The Pacific island countries lag behind the rest of
the world in relation to access to their populace to
safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
Only 50% of the Pacific population have access to
improved drinking water sources while 39% have
improved sanitation facilities.
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For every eight people in the Pacific island
countries, only one had access to piped
water into their dwelling, plot or yard in
2006 and only 46% had access to any type
of improved drinking-water facility.
Proportion of people using different types of drinking-water sources in the
Pacific island countries, 2006
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Diarrhoea is typically the 2nd leading
cause of death and serious illness in
young children besides respiratory
infections
Distribution of mortality due to different causes among children less than
five years old in a typical country of the Pacific (Fiji)
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Regional Frameworks relevant for drinking water
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Besides the MDGs, PICs have committed to
take actions through various regional
frameworks, including:
Pacific Regional Wastewater Framework for
Action (2001)
Pacific RAP (2002)
Pacific Framework for Action on DWQ and
Health (2005)
Beppu Policy Statement of the 1st Asia-Pacific
Water Forum (2007)
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Pacific Integrated Plan
Drinking Water Quality and Health
Integrated Plan
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Integrated Drinking Water Quality Programmes
NZMoH Pacific
DW Assistance
Programme
Water Quality
Monitoring
Programme
Water
Safety
Planning
Programme
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Drinking water safety plan
A DWSP covers the following questions:
1. What could make the water unsafe to drink?
 hazards that the water supply is exposed to
 the level of risk associated with each hazard
2. What makes it safe?
 The best control for each hazard
3. Which of these factors need urgent attention?
 Priorities (based on risk and cost effectiveness)
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Implementing DWSPs in the Pacific
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An effective mechanism through partnership
developed under the integrated plan as showed
earlier ensured the technical support is provided in
an efficient manner.
Countries implementing the drinking water safety
plans include Vanuatu, Tonga, Cook Islands, Palau,
Samoa, Niue, Republic of Marshall Islands and Fiji.
Most countries have come a long way from the
inception of the concept to actual implementation of
water safety plans.
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Drinking Water Safety Planning:
A practical Guide for Pacific Island
Countries
Structure of Guide:
Part 1: Setting up National
Support Processes
Part 2: Drinking Water Safety
Planning Manual
Drawn from experiences in pilot
countries (Tonga, Palau, Cook
Islands and Vanuatu)
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Part 1: Setting up National
Supporting Processes
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National support processes for DWSP
1.
A national strategy preferably with health-based
targets should be the first stage in the process;
2.
The development of WSPs for individual supplies;
3.
Introduce independent surveillance;
4.
Review effectiveness of the WSP against the
health-based target.
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It should be understood by water suppliers and
managers that a drinking water safety plan should
not be merely used as a tool to support capital
investments.
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The main aim of a drinking water safety plan is to
ensure that water supplied to consumers is
consistently safe to drink and to manage potential
risks from catchment to consumer.
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Part 2 : Drinking Water Safety Planning Manual
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Keeping Your Water Safe
Designed for use by Community Trainers, Health Officers,
Community Workers, and Facilitators
Raise awareness about the need to keep water clean and
promote responsible attitudes, behavior and actions to ensure
safety of drinking water
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Simple Tools for Community-based
Water Quality Monitoring
1) H2S (hydrogen sulfide) test for bacteria in water
2) Sanitary survey sheets
Challenges
 The geographical spread of the islands which hinder
the communication and make regular face-to-face
communication with counterparts very difficult.
 The generally poor data including health data makes
it difficult to review the impact of DWSPs in terms of
health benefits for the population. This could
become a challenge in the general acceptance of
drinking water safety plans.
 Also, the lack of human resources can lead to
counterparts to not able to commit themselves fully.
 Funding support to scale up DWSPs in time and in
space.
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Lessons learned
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It takes time to promote
understanding and
acceptability of the
drinking water safety
plans concept which is
fairly new to the Pacific.
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Stakeholder involvement
and collaboration are
very beneficial but can
become challenging if
there is any conflict of
interests.
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Lessons learned cont…
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Operational staff in water utilities need to be
thoroughly involved in drinking water safety plan
development and should be given specific training
on plant and equipment operation and maintenance.
Lastly, vulnerability of community or village water
supplies is much greater compared to urban water
supplies because there is usually limited or no
treatment of water. Thus mechanisms to better
support village water supply safety should be
established.
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