THE UNIVERSITY of NORTH CAROLINA at CHAPEL HILL

Water Safety Planning: Measuring Gains and Implementing Effective Practices


Water Safety Plans (WSPs) are a risk management approach recommended by the World Health Organization for all water suppliers to help prevent drinking water contamination. They function by identifying process control steps from catchment to consumer, where monitoring can be performed to ensure a safe product.

Universal and equitable access to safely managed drinking water supplies is a central focus of SDG targets 6.1 and 6.5 . While WSPs have been adopted in more than 90 countries globally, the evidence base continues to build regarding when, where, why, and how they function.

Our research explores the health and other benefits of WSPs to inform policy and practice. Applied studies help to improve evaluation methods, implementation capacity, evidence for decision making, and scale-up into new contexts.

The Water Institute periodically offers a distance-learning course on water safety planning, which describes the steps and tools needed to implement a WSP, as well as case studies, assessments, and examples of impacts.

Water Institute Researchers

  • Jamie Bartram – Principal Investigator
  • Karen Setty – Lead Researcher

Research Products

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