Water Safety Plans in the Asia Pacific

The Water Safety Plan (WSP) approach has caught on in the Asia-Pacific region. Countries like Australia, New Zealand and Singapore have already implemented WSPs nation-wide. Even though terminologies may differ in various countries, application of system risk assessment approach is similar to that described by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Water Association (IWA). In Australia the risk assessment approach is described in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines - Drinking Water Quality Management Framework and in New Zealand, water suppliers are mandated to have Public Health Risk Management Plans (PHRMP).

Capacity building and piloting of WSP are also ongoing in a number of countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Lao PDR, Nepal, Philippines and Viet Nam under a project led by WHO and funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AUSAID). Under this cooperation, WSP initiatives in these countries have progressed steadily and the project is currently in its second phase (till June 2011) to scale up the WSP initiatives in the countries.

Under a regional network, WaterLinks, agencies like United States Agency for International Development Environmental Cooperation-Asia (USAID ECO-Asia), the International Water Association (IWA) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have introduced water safety plan initiatives in countries like China, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.