Drinking water comes from a variety of sources including public water systems, private wells, or bottled water. Ensuring safe and healthy drinking water may be as simple as turning on the tap from a regulated public water supply system. Other water sources may require some form of treatment before drinking for example the use of water filter, a check on water fluoridation, or an inspection to ensure a septic tank is not too close to a private well. It is important to know where drinking water comes from, how it has been treated, and if it is safe to drink.

Water Safety Planning (WSP) is a risk-based systematic approach for protecting the quality of public drinking water. The WHO fourth edition of Guidelines on Drinking Water Quality (WHO, 2011) explicitly states the importance of Water Safety Planning. The Bonn Charter (IWA, 2004) advocates for the use of Water Safety Planning as the best way of ensuring safe drinking water.

Water Safety Plans are now being adopted worldwide, but they are not fully understood by all stakeholders. Face-to-face training is therefore considered to be an essential component of globally successful WSP implementation. It is upon this premise that IDEAL Public Health and Development Consultancy (IPHDC) has planned a five-day training course aimed at equipping stakeholders with knowledge and skills on Water Safety Plans for drinking water supply systems.

Who should attend this training?

The training is aimed at all individuals involved in the management of drinking water (in urban, rural and humanitarian contexts) including operational staff of water supply systems, officers from government agencies, community water supply managers and NGO project staff.

What are the key aspects of the training?

• Understand how to assemble a team for WSP;
• Describe the water supply system;
• Identify the hazards and assess the risks;
• Determine and validate control measures;
• Develop, implement and maintain the water safety plan;
• Define monitoring of control measures;
• Verify effectiveness of WSP;
• Prepare management procedures;
• Develop supporting programmes;
• Plan and carry out periodic WSP reviews;
• Revise WSP following incident;
• Integrate WSP and Climate Change.

What are the main training objectives?

The following objectives are planned to be achieved by the end of the training:

• To equip participants with knowledge and skills for developing and implementing effective water safety plans (WSPs) for water supply systems and integrate Climate Change in their plans.
• To promote the adoption of Water Safety Planning as a tool for ensuring water quality compliance in the public health context.

What learning approach and language will be used in the training?

A combination of various adult-learning facilitation paradigms will be used including exploratory learning, group discussions, plenary brainstorming, facilitator’s input, field visits, case studies and video documentaries among others. The entire training will be facilitated in English. However, if need be, French translation will be provided.

When is the training period?

23rd to 27th September 2024