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Urban Water Journal

ISSN: 1573-062X (Print) 1744-9006 (Online) Journal homepage: http://iahr.tandfonline.com/loi/nurw20

Water safety plans for piped urban supplies in


developing countries: a case study from Kampala,
Uganda

Guy Howard , Sam Godfrey , Sarah Tibatemwa & Charles Niwagaba

To cite this article: Guy Howard , Sam Godfrey , Sarah Tibatemwa & Charles Niwagaba (2005)
Water safety plans for piped urban supplies in developing countries: a case study from Kampala,
Uganda, Urban Water Journal, 2:3, 161-170, DOI: 10.1080/15730620500236567

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15730620500236567

Published online: 16 Feb 2007.

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Urban Water Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, September 2005, 161 170

Water safety plans for piped urban supplies in developing countries:


a case study from Kampala, Uganda
GUY HOWARD{, SAM GODFREY{, SARAH TIBATEMWA and CHARLES NIWAGABA}

{Department for International Development (DFID), United House, 10 Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212,
Bangladesh
{Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC), Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK
National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Jinja Road, Kampala, Uganda
}Public Health and Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, Makerere University,
Kampala, Uganda
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) promote the use of water safety plans (WSPs) in
the 3rd edition of the Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality (2004). WSPs place an
emphasis on risk assessment coupled with risk management, with simple indicators to
monitor process control and periodic verication through audit and microbial indicators.
A WSP was developed for the Kampala piped water supply in Uganda by the National
Water and Sewerage Corporation. The use of risk maps was found to greatly aid the
identication of hazardous events in the distribution system. A validation exercise was
performed that showed the WSP was properly designed. The study shows WSPs can be
successfully developed for utilities in developing countries and oer signicant cost
savings in water quality control. Senior management endorsement was found to be
essential to provide the authority to develop and implement the activities required for
eective water safety management.

Keywords: Water safety plans; Developing countries; Utilities

control, as the bacterial indicator organisms typically used


1. Introduction
are less reliable in indicating the potential presence of viral
The approach to ensuring water safety has developed since and protozoan pathogens (Ashbolt et al. 2001, Payment
the 19th Century through the development of simple et al. 2003).
methods for detecting faecal contamination using indicator In the food industry, the Hazard Analysis Critical
bacteria and sanitary inspection of water supplies (Helmer Control Point (HACCP) approach, combined with other
et al. 1999, Medema et al. 2003). The limitations of over- management systems such as ISO 9000, is employed and
reliance on end product testing has been increasingly is considered to provide a more eective means of
recognised (Bartram et al. 2001, Deere et al. 2001, Davison control of food safety than end-product testing. Follow-
et al. 2004). A number of studies have shown that ing the codication of HACCP, Havelaar (1994)
signicant gastro-intestinal disease could be attributed to proposed that this could be applied to water supplies.
consumption of water that met standards for coliforms and Since this time, there has been increasing experience with
Escherichia coli (Payment et al. 1991, 1997). Furthermore, applying the HACCP approach to water safety and a
the recognition of the importance of viral and protozoan new paradigm for water safety management has emerged
pathogens in causing waterborne disease has led to a (Bartram et al. 2001, Deere et al. 2001, Davison et al.
reappraisal of approaches to microbial water quality 2004).

*Corresponding author. Email: g-howard@dd.gov.uk

Urban Water Journal


ISSN 1573-062X print/ISSN 1744-9006 online 2005 Taylor & Francis
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/15730620500236567
162 G. Howard et al.

In the development of the 3rd edition of the WHO


Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality (WHO 2004), the use
of risk management is promoted and in particular the
development of water safety plans (WSPs). Davison et al.
(2004) describe in detail the WSP approach and show that
this employs many of the concepts of HACCP, but also
takes account of traditional water sector approaches, such
as the multiple barrier principle. There are dierences
between HACCP in the food industry and the WSP
approach, in part because in the water industry the recall
of suspect or contaminated product is far less easy and
indeed doing so could in some cases increase health risks
from poor hygiene.
WHO (2004) note that in addition to WSPs, water
safety management requires the setting of health-based
targets and independent surveillance to ensure water
safety is achieved. The development of health-based
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targets would typically be led by the health sector and


approaches to setting such targets in terms of Disability-
Adjusted Life Years have been outlined by Havelaar
and Melse (2003). Independent surveillance would typi- Figure 1. Location of Kampala.
cally be the responsibility of the health, environment or
local government sectors (WHO 1997, 2004, Howard
2002).
The development of WSPs falls under the responsibility household connections were relatively low. Previous
of the water supplier in ensuring adequate quality control research estimated of households without a direct connec-
of water it produces and distributes (Davison et al. 2004, tion, 70% used piped water for at least part of their
WHO 2004). WSPs place an emphasis on thorough risk domestic needs, but that use of alternative sources was
assessment and eective risk management and on the use of common (Howard et al. 2002).
indicators to monitor process control with periodic
verication of microbial quality. It is based on the water
3. Methodology
supplier having a good understanding of their supply and
having operational practices that will react quickly to The methodology applied in this case study is outlined in
deviations in process control to ensure that unsafe water is detail in Godfrey and Howard (2004) and follows the
not supplied. approach presented by Davison et al. (2004) and WHO
The development and application of a WSP in a utility in (2004). At the outset of the activity, a small team was
a developing country is the focus of this paper. A case study formed to develop an outline plan of work that could be
is presented of the use of this approach and implementation presented to the senior management of NW&SC. Manage-
is discussed in light of the experience gained. ment endorsement for the WSP approach was considered
to be an essential pre-requisite to provide the WSP team
with the authority to undertake the activities required.
2. Study area
Without this support, WSP activities may not have been
The WSP was developed for the piped water supply in sanctioned or recommendations for changes in working
Kampala, Uganda. The location of Kampala is shown in practices rejected.
gure 1. The National Water and Sewerage Corporation To obtain management endorsement, a presentation was
(NW&SC) are responsible for the provision of domestic made and discussions held with the senior management of
piped water in Kampala and for its quality control. During NW&SC (including the Managing Director) on the
the period of the study, the distribution system was proposed development of the WSP and a case was made
managed under contract by a private operator, Ondeo for why this was a sound investment. This presentation
Services Uganda Limited (OSUL). made links to other ongoing activities within NW&SC to
Water is drawn from Lake Victoria and, after treatment, improve performance and eciency. It also provided an
is distributed through a total of 871 kilometres of pipeline. opportunity to review how WSPs could improve aspects of
A total of 95 ML per day is produced through the works at asset management and in demonstrating due diligence to
Gaba. In common with many developing countries, direct regulators and customers.
Water safety plan in Kampala, Uganda 163

detailed description of the system in relation to potential


3.1 Organisational review
hazards was made more straightforward because the
A review of the roles and responsibilities of the dierent network had been mapped in detail and stored within a
departments within NW&SC and Ondeo Services Uganda Geographic Information System (GIS) system. Therefore
Ltd (OSUL) was undertaken. This review provided the electronic maps were available for block maps covering
team with a clear indication of who needed to be involved 0.5 km2. Each of these block maps was geo-referenced using
in the WSP, what activities they could legitimately be UTM grid references points and a full system map showing
requested to perform and formed the basis for an the individual blocks prepared.
organisation-wide involvement in water safety manage- The desk study included a systematic review of existing
ment. The outcome from this review was the establishment water quality data, consumer complaints and the limited
of a WSP team with clear areas of responsibility as shown leakage data from NW&SC. This was further supported by
in table 1. a review of water quality and sanitary inspection data from
a surveillance project run by the Ministry of Health
between 1997 and 2000 (Howard and Bartram 2005). These
3.2 System assessment
reviews identied areas of particular concern where initial
Once the WSP team was formed, a desk-based review of the eld assessment and subsequent WSP activities should be
water supply in Kampala was undertaken to develop a full prioritised.
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description of the system. The rst stage involved the


preparation of a simple ow diagram that showed how
3.3 Identifying hazardous events
water moved from the source through to the consumer.
This included details of treatment processes used in each of A list of potential hazardous events that could aect the
the two works and identifying which service reservoirs were system was prepared. The principal hazards considered
supplied from which treatment works (with dierentiation were microbial given the importance of infectious disease in
between high and low level) and the parts of the city served Uganda. Consideration of chemical hazards was primarily
by dierent service reservoirs. This simple ow diagram is related to over-dosing of chlorine, as levels of free chlorine
shown in gure 2. greater than 5.0 mg/l were previously detected at consu-
A more detailed description of the distribution system mers taps (Howard and Luyima 1999). Given the paucity
was then developed so that a hazardous event assessment of data on other chemicals it was somewhat dicult to
could be undertaken. In Kampala, the development of a identify signicant chemical threats in the source waters.

Table 1. Activities and responsibilities of the WSP team.


Name NW&SC Others
Activity/responsibility Responsible WQCD HQ OSUL MAK WEDC

1. System assessment
Identication and printing of maps Senior engineer I A R I A
Field work Engineers I A I R A
Reporting and data analysis Engineers I A I R I
Transport arrangements Principal analyst R A A A I
Management of logistics Principal analyst R A A A I
Co-ordination Principal analyst R A I I I

2. WQ assessment
Laboratory analysis Principal analyst R A A I I
Sampling Principal analyst R A A I I
Transport Principal analyst R A A A A
Co-ordination Principal analyst R A I I I
Report and data analysis Principal analyst/Quality R A I I I
control manager
Logistics Principal Analyst R A A I I
Training for WQ analysis Consultant I A A I R
WQ assessment preparation Consultant I A I I R

NB: A = Aware; I = Involved; R = Responsible


Key: NW&SC National Water and Sewerage Corporation, HQ Head quarters of NW&SC, OSUL Ondeo Services Uganda Ltd., Mak
Makerere University, WEDC Water, Engineering and Development Centre
164 G. Howard et al.
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Figure 2. Simplied ow chart of the Kampala water supply.

However, the relatively limited industrial development in this alone was not adequate. Even more dicult was
Kampala and the nature of source suggests that chemical to assign the severity component in the distribution
threats remain relatively insignicant. systems. To do this, rstly the team had to be sure where
For each hazardous event, a qualitative risk ranking water from any single point where a hazardous event may
exercise using the approach developed by Deere et al. occur would travel and therefore how many people would
(2001) shown in table 2 was performed to determine the be aected.
level of priority that should be allocated to the event. This was further complicated by the variability of service
For the treatment works, this process was relatively level enjoyed by the population. Some households had
simple as records were adequate and expert judgment water supplied with multiple taps, some households had a
allowed denition of likelihood of event occurrence. As a single tap in their yard and some households relied on
failure in treatment can be expected to aect all the system communal taps. In the latter category in particular, there
served by the system, the severity component was also was further complication as many such households do not
relatively straightforward. rely solely on tap water for domestic needs but also use
For the distribution system, this exercise represented a alternative sources (Howard et al. 2002). Socio-economic
considerably greater challenge due to the lack of visibility status also varied signicantly within the population, which
of buried pipes and the lack of quantitative leakage data in has been shown to be linked to vulnerability to infectious
the Kampala system. Zoning of the system into 6 major disease (Payment and Hunter 2001, Howard and Bartram
supply zones, based on service reservoirs and treatment 2005). Therefore, evaluation of socio-economic status of
works, and 22 sub-zones was undertaken to allow the the population was included as a means of dening severity
system to be assessed in a systematic way. Historical of impact.
sanitary inspection, water quality and consumer complaints To overcome these problems, the team developed risk
provided some indication of the likelihood of contamina- maps of the distribution system that brought together
tion events occurring. However, as the nature of some environmental, infrastructure and socio-demographic data
events was highly dependent of the wider environment, to assist in dening hazardous events, likelihood of
Water safety plan in Kampala, Uganda 165

Table 2. Qualitative risk ranking (Deere et al. 2001).


Likelihood
Severity
Rare Unlikely Moderate Likely Almost certain

Insignicant Negligible Negligible Negligible Negligible Low


Minor Negligible Negligible Low Medium Medium
Moderate Low Low Medium High High
Major Medium High High Very high Very high
Catastrophic High Very high Very high Very high Very high

Table 3. Extract of risk ranking exercise for distribution Kampala system.


Hazard Hazard event, source/cause Likelihood Severity Risk rating

Microbial Birds faeces enter through vents because covers Likely Major Very high
dislodged
Microbial Birds faeces enter through open inspection hatches Likely Major High Very high*
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Microbial Ingress of contamination at inlet valve of service Moderate Major High*


reservoir due to inundation of valve box and
deteriorating valve packing
Microbial Microbial contamination at valve V 391/V796/V-390, Likely Moderate High*
Block Map 2023
Microbial Microbial contamination at valve -1766/V1765 Block Likely Moderate High
Map 2713
Microbial Area surrounding tap and sanitary condition of tap Likely Moderate High*
allow entry of contaminated water
Microbial Contaminated water enters through damaged pipes at Moderate Impact determined using High
road crossings risk maps
Microbial Contamination enters through exposed pipes in tertiary Likely Moderate High
mains
Microbial Poor hygiene in repair work allows microbial Unlikely Catastrophic High
contamination to enter into the system
Microbial Contamination of poorly maintained community tanks Moderate Moderate Medium

occurrence and severity of impact (Godfrey et al. 2004). As The operational audit at the treatment works involved
described in detail by these maps used physical attributes as assessing the performance by the operators of key tasks. It
a means of dening the vulnerability of the pipes to is also involved measurements of ow rates and retention
hazardous events and this was combined with environ- times through each treatment step and assessment of dosing
mental data to determine the nature of the hazardous procedure and concentrations. The team used a proforma
events and the likelihood of occurrence. based on examples of materials from the UK Drinking
Water Inspectorate and a proforma originally developed
for application in Zimbabwe.
3.4 Validation
Within the distribution system, water analysis was
The WSP was validated through a water quality assessment restricted to E. coli and faecal streptococci. C. perfringens
and audit exercise that was designed to evaluate whether was not included because it was considered that positive
the WSP had correctly identied hazardous events and results would be dicult to interpret because this organism
whether the control measures proposed would be adequate is so robust its presence could indicate old contamination
to assure water safety. At the treatment works, validation rather than recent contamination. The somatic coliphage
included a detailed evaluation of operation and analysis of were restricted to the treatment works because the team
four microbial indicator organisms: Escherichia coli, faecal were evaluating its use in Kampala (as no previous work
streptococci, Clostridia perfringens and somatic coliphage. had been undertaken to assess whether this was in source
Sampling was performed over three consecutive days, and waters) and therefore a more limited experiment was
repeated for two weeks. undertaken.
166 G. Howard et al.

Table 4. Extract of control measures, critical limits and monitoring for Kampala distribution system.
Critical limits Monitoring
Hazard event Cause Control measure
Target Action What When Who

Microbial Bird faeces enter Vent covers remain Vents covered 50% of vent Sanitary Weekly Operating
contamination of through vents in place support struts inspection sta
service reservoir because covers are damaged
from birds dislodged
Microbial Bird faeces enter Inspection covers Inspection covers Inspection covers Sanitary Daily Operating
contamination of through open remain in place locked in place not in place or inspection sta
service reservoir inspection hatches unlocked Chlorine
from birds residual
Microbial Bird and animal Inspection covers Inspection hatches Visible signs of Sanitary Quarterly/ Operating
contamination of faeces enter and hatches are and covers show no damage or inspection annually sta
service reservoir through damaged kept in good visible sign of corrosion
from birds and or corroded condition damage or
animals inspection hatches corrosion
Microbial Rodents or Vent covers Vents covered 50% of vent Sanitary Weekly Operations
contamination of amphibians enter remain in place support struts inspection sta
service reservoir service reservoir are damaged
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from animals through vents


because covers
damaged
Ingress of Shallow Structural integrity Tank structure Drainage channels Sanitary Monthly Operations
contaminated groundwater and drainage sound with no blocked; visible inspection sta
water through ingress through cracks; drainage signs of cracks
service reservoir cracks in service channels in good develop in tank
walls reservoir walls condition structure
Ingress of Damage by trees Structural integrity No trees on Signs of tree Sanitary Annually Operating
contaminated planted on of roof; control reservoir roof growth or crack inspection sta
water through reservoir roof or tree growth and no cracks development
roof damage grass roots from in roof
large tussocks;
inundation by
surface water of
reservoir roof
Ingress of Inundation of inlet Good drainage in Valve boxes Cover out of place, Sanitary Monthly Operating
contamination valve of surface valve box; covers covered and do signs of water or inspection; sta
at inlet valve water or ingress on valve box; not have material build-up; washout
of stagnant water valve packing in standing water packing shows drain tests
through leaking good condition or organic material visible signs of
valve packing in base; packing damage
does not leak

source water and infrastructure were inspected and records


4. Results
reviewed.
A list of hazardous events within the system was prepared For the distribution system, the use of the risk maps
based on the risk maps and included events occurring in the greatly simplied the eld assessment. Using the distribu-
primary, secondary and tertiary infrastructure, the latter tion map as a platform, the WSP steering group identied
being particularly important as previous studies in Kam- the key points in the system where a hazardous event could
pala has shown that it is these parts of the system where have particular severity of outcome and where monitoring
contamination most commonly occurs (Howard n.d.). An could be readily deployed to establish whether control was
extract of this risk ranking is shown in table 3 for the being maintained. A detailed list of key points to be visited
distribution system. was prepared, including all the service reservoirs, valves on
A eld assessment was undertaken to review whether the primary and secondary mains and booster stations. Field
hazardous events had been identied appropriately during assessment of risks in the tertiary pipelines was undertaken
the desk review and whether any events had been missed. on a statistically representative sample of 0.5 km2 block
For the treatment works, the major components of the maps across the system. The eld assessment included some
Water safety plan in Kampala, Uganda 167

basic water quality analysis (chlorine residuals, turbidity, Table 5. Summary verication plan for Kampala supply.
pH and temperature) and sanitary inspection using forms Unit Process Verication
developed modied from models used in previous projects
(WHO 1997, Howard 2002). What When
The data from the eld assessment showed that the Source water Operational reports Monthly
majority of hazardous events were correctly identied, but and audit
noted some additional events could occur in specic parts Coagulation/ Escherichia coli Weekly
occulation
of the system. These were incorporated into the hazardous
Faecal streptococci Weekly
event matrix and the likelihood and severity of potential Clostridium Weekly
impact reviewed. perfringens
Record audit Monthly
Filtration Escherichia coli Weekly
4.1 Control measures and critical limits Faecal streptococci Weekly
Clostridium Weekly
The control measures and critical limits were primarily perfringens
based on the ndings of the eld assessment in order that Disinfection Escherichia coli Weekly
these reected the actual situation prevailing within the Faecal streptococci Weekly
system. The team found that dening critical limits had to Clostridium Weekly
perfringens
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be done at the same time as dening monitoring, as critical


C.t values Weekly
limits could only be understood in the context of how Distribution system Escherichia coli Monthly
monitoring would be undertaken. Faecal streptococci Monthly
Using the data derived from the eld assessment, the
team developed a matrix of control measures, critical limits
and suggested monitoring. An extract of this matrix is
shown in table 4. A key nding from the eld assessment control of risks (which tended to be more frequent) with
was that for a number of valves, monitoring was not available resources and capacity for such monitoring
possible as there was no tap in the immediate vicinity or the (which tended to limit frequency). A reasoned judgement
valve box was buried. As a result, a plan to install sampling had to made regarding the frequency of required monitor-
taps was prepared and is currently being implemented for ing. Frequency of monitoring of points within the tertiary
NW&SC to ensure all valve boxes are accessible. distribution were primarily based on a sample of sites being
The eld assessment showed that the problems in visited by the WQCD team and support to communities in
maintaining water safety were primarily located within undertaking more regular monitoring and undertaking
the distribution system rather than the treatment works and corrective actions.
that this was where priority should be given. Following The team had identied the appropriate monitoring for
completion of the control measure, critical limit and each control measure. This drew on a review of the
monitoring identication, the frequency and responsibility scientic literature and previous analysis of results. As
for monitoring was reviewed. This showed that some shown in table 4, in a number of cases the control measure
reallocation of sta responsibility for monitoring was was primarily based on the integrity of the infrastructure.
required. In some cases, the risks identied occurred at a Therefore, monitoring for a signicant number of control
point where households or communities would be the most measures was based on assessment of the integrity of the
appropriate people to do the monitoring. In these cases, the system at key points through sanitary inspection.
team noted the importance of also ensuring operational
sta could support this activity and the development of
4.2 Validation and verication
appropriate tools.
In assessing the frequency of monitoring, the team went The validation exercise demonstrated that the hazardous
back to the risk ranking exercise and in particular the risk events and proposed control measures were appropriate.
maps of the distribution system that had been prepared. The nal water from the treatment works was generally
The use of the latter was found to be essential in good, although there was one occasion when C. perfringens
understanding the level of risk at particular points within breakthrough occurred and the system was in general less
the distribution system and to tailor monitoring frequency able to provide assurance of protozoa removal. The
on the basis of risk. By tailoring monitoring programmes, validation also demonstrated that there were several issues
management needs for information can be met in a more of concern, particularly at major valves within the system
cost-eective manner (Adriaanse 1997, Howard 2003). that would allow contamination to occur. No E. coli was
In developing monitoring programmes, a balance had to isolated in the nal water at the treatment works or in the
be struck between what would be preferred in terms of distribution systems. Faecal streptococci were isolated in
168 G. Howard et al.

one sample from the nal water at the treatment works and The whole WSP approach for Kampala has been
in three samples from the distribution system. In the documented and NW&SC now have a range of operational
distribution system, these all related to deciencies in and other documents to support implementation of the
control measures, suggesting that the identication of WSP. These include the WSP itself, a manual for under-
hazardous events and control measures were reliable. There taking the WSP activitiesincluding reportingand the
was a less obvious relationship in the treatment works, but results of the risk assessment undertaken with guidance on
there were some operational deciencies that had been how this may be repeated.
identied. A nal exercise was undertaken to estimate what the
The data from the validation exercise for E. coli, C. costs would be to NW&SC of switching to a WSP approach
perfringens and somatic coliphage, as well as data available to water quality monitoring compared to the costs of
on E. coli from monitoring programmes, were used to returning to an end-product standard testing approach.
perform a quantitative microbial risk assessment based on The results showed that a 30% reduction in costs of water
the simplied approach described in the WHO Guidelines quality control activities could be achieved, whilst at the
for Drinking-Water Quality (WHO 2004). The risk assess- same time maintaining greater assurance of water safety.
ment demonstrated that the principal public health risks
related to bacterial pathogens in the Kampala system were
5. Discussion
found in the distribution system and were 2 3 orders of
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magnitude higher than the risk at the treatment works. The The development and implementation of a WSP in
risk from protozoa breakthrough at the treatment works Kampala was successful and NW&SC valued the ap-
was considerably higher than the risk from bacterial or proach. Although the approach and some of the
viral pathogens (Howard et al. n.d.). terminology was considered new at the beginning of the
Based on the ndings of the validation exercise, a process, the team rapidly realised that a WSP largely builds
verication plan was nalised for the Kampala system for on their existing knowledge and practice and formalises
implementation by the water quality control department of this. It was also recognised by the team that the WSP oers
NW&SC. The verication plan set out the frequency and improvement over the end-product testing approach. The
number of samples required for dierent indicator organ- successful implementation of a WSP in this setting is
isms, as well as assessment of sanitary risks. The important when considering the moves by WHO in
verication plan is shown in table 5. The verication promoting the WSP approach. Unless this can be applied
programme in the distribution system was based on a in all countries and most settings, it cannot be considered as
rolling programme with samples taken every month, which a valid international approach. This case study suggests
is consistent with recommendations in WHO (2004). that the approach is robust and provides a useful way
It was also recommended that routine analysis of a forward in water safety management.
smaller number of samples taken from the verication A key aspect of the approach was the initial emphasis
exercise to be analysed for faecal streptococci. The risk placed on the buy-in of senior management and their
assessment also identied the need for frequent verication ongoing involvement through brieng and reports from the
of the treatment system through use of C. perfringens. WSP team. Without spending this time in developing
Assessment of performance through verifying Ct values support, it is unlikely that WSPs will be easy to implement.
and undertaking a detailed audit of records was also This is in agreement with the recognised need for a WSP
included. champion in the literature (Davison et al. 2004). In this
For the sanitary risk component, it was recommended particular case, the initial champion came from outside the
that twice a year a systematic survey and an operational utility in the form of the UK research team, but rapidly
audit be undertaken at the same time as the more extensive transferred across to the NW&SC coordinator. This also
analysis of water quality. suggests that in achieving uptake of WSPs in developing
countries, key organisations such as WHO and IWA will
need to take on an initial champion role to persuade
4.3 Documentation
utilities of the benets of the approach.
The nal stage of the WSP was to establish procedures for The limited changes found in the hazardous event
documenting the ongoing activities within the WSP. identication and control measure denition between the
Results of sanitary inspections from the twice-yearly desk-based exercise and the eld assessment showed that
comparative assessment were to be reported to the GIS the team already had a good understanding of the system.
team to ensure that this could be used to update the risk Undertaking the Kampala WSP provided the team with the
maps with the variable risk component. Likewise, the knowledge, experience and condence to undertake similar
water quality control department have to be informed of exercises in a second water supply in Jinja, Uganda. The
any improvements or upgrades undertaken on the system. team found that in Jinja the range of hazardous events and
Water safety plan in Kampala, Uganda 169

control measures were very similar to those for Kampala to the maintenance of the tertiary infrastructure and found
and that the WSP for Kampala could be used as a checklist in the immediate area of taps. In many incidences, the
to allow the WSP for Jinja to be dened. The use of faecal impact of such events are rather dierent in developing
streptococci in distribution assessments indicated its country utilities than a similar event in a developed country
ecacy as a indicator bacteria, although the test is less because a single tap often serves multiple households, either
easily performed using low-cost eld kits. The development because it is a public tap or because the owner of the tap
of such kits is an area of ongoing research. sells water to their neighbours within the community
Such a nding is of particular importance for water (Singha 1996, Tatietse and Rodriguez 2001). Therefore
suppliers in developing countries, where available resources the number of people aected is much greater and becomes
are limited, as the use of model WSPs as a starting point more within the public domain than similar problems at a
for dening WSPs for all their supplies will signicantly household tap in developing countries.
reduce the time required at each supply and oer savings in These problems suggest that the utility needs to take a
costs. It also suggests that model WSPs could be shared with more proactive role in managing localised risks, which at
other utilities in the same country or with utilities in other the same time is dicult to achieve with available human
countries. A future area of activity could be for a number of and other resources. The approach advocated within the
utilities in the East Africa region to pool expertise and Kampala setting was for NW&SC to provide training and
resources to develop a regionally applicable model WSP as a simple tools for communities to monitor localised risks and
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guide for local WSP development. There already exist forums undertake simple repairs. Furthermore, a hot-line was
through which this could occur and it is suggested that this advocated that would allow communities to notify
oers a potentially highly advantageous way forward. NW&SC or OSUL of both localised and supply problems
The use of risk mapping was found to be very important (for instance major leaks) in order to ensure that repairs
in dening the priority to be accorded to hazardous events were made in a timely fashion. The success of this latter
and control measures within the distribution system. action will also be an eective indication of the degree to
Without such an approach, it would have been much more which NW&SC are a responsive and eective utility.
dicult to take into account variability in the nature of the
system and the environment in which it is laid and the
6. Conclusions
variation in the potential impact on users. Although more
complex modelling of risk is possible in distribution The experience gained in this case study showed that WSPs
systems (Ta 2002), the case study in Kampala has shown can be applied to utilities in developing countries.
that the semi-quantitative approach adopted provides an Experience from other countries show that the WSP
important building block for the WSP. The team also approaches oer many benets to utilities in controlling
found that the use of risk mapping using system water safety and demonstrating due diligence to regulators
characteristics was also robust and could be applied to and customers. The case study in Kampala also showed
other settings such as Jinja where there was more limited that once a utility has had experience in developing one
data (Godfrey and Howard 2004). WSP, subsequent replication is easier and quicker and that
The exercise in evaluating costs of applying WSPs shows there is a strong case to be made for development of
that not only does such an approach provide better model WSPs as a guide to the process. This would
assurance of water safety but may also be more cost- simplify modication to suit individual water supplies. The
eective. In other countries, water suppliers have tended to study ndings suggest that there could be possibilities for a
nd that costs have either decreased or remained the same regional approach to promoting model WSPs.
with implementation of HACCP or WSPs (Davison et al. Endorsement by senior management is essential for
2004). This makes a strong argument for managers when implementing a WSP. In this case study, endorsement
promoting the application of WSPs. Furthermore, there is from the most senior managers in the utility provided the
good evidence that HACCP plans and WSPs can support WSP team with authority that proved to have long-lasting
improved asset management (Davison et al. 2004) and this eect. It also gave subsequent authority for the WSP team
proved a useful means of persuading senior management in to interact closely with the unit established within NW&SC
Uganda of the overall benets of the approach. to promote community participation and delivery of
Although the work with the water supplier showed that services to the urban poor.
many of the risks in the water supply were more eectively The need for a champion was essential to obtain the
controlled through the use of the WSP approach, there necessary senior management endorsement. In Kampala,
remain areas where the control of water safety implies the champion largely came from outside via the UK
actions by other stakeholders. Of key importance within research team. It is likely that to roll out WSPs across
the Kampala supply is the role of communities in developing countries, organisations such as WHO and
controlling localised risks. Such localised problems relate IWA may have to initially play a champion role.
170 G. Howard et al.

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