Water Sanitation and Health
Our vision and mission are the attainment by all peoples of the lowest possible burden of water and sanitation-related disease through primary prevention.

Water safety planning

The WHO Guidelines for drinking-water quality recommend water safety plans (WSPs) as the most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety and acceptability of a drinking-water supply.

WSPs require a risk assessment including all steps in water supply from catchment to consumer, followed by implementation and monitoring of risk management control measures, with a focus on high priority risks. Where risks cannot be immediately addressed, the WSP approach allows for incremental improvements to be implemented systematically over time. WSPs should be implemented within a public health context, responding to clear health-based targets and quality-checked through independent surveillance.

WSPs are adaptable to all types and sizes of water supply, and can be effectively applied in all socioeconomic settings. The water safety planning approach is increasingly being adopted globally as best practice for the provision of safe drinking-water.

Relevant publications

Publication cover

As part of ongoing efforts to improve drinking-water safety and health, many countries have requested guidance on how to introduce and scale up the implementation...

Water safety plan manual: step-by-step risk management for drinking-water suppliers, second edition

This Water safety plan manual provides practical guidance to support development and implementation of water safety planning in accordance with the principles...

A practical guide to auditing water safety plans

Water safety plans (WPS) have been implemented in every region of the world, and many implementing countries have included WSPs in drinking-water policies...

Water safety planning for small community water supplies

The WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality recommends the application of a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach called Water Safety...

More resources

Spring source

Revised sanitary inspection packages are available that support the assessment and management of risks within drinking-water supply systems.

This series of training videos provide an overview of the water safety planning approach and it’s benefits. It also includes information on the individual steps of water safety planning for urban water systems, as well as covers the basic elements of water safety plan auditing.

WHO Academy course on water safety planning

Water safety portal

A global resource website on WSPs