lmplementation of a national regulatory framework for drinking water safety plans in Uruguay.

The establishment of national strategic frameworks for systematic scaling-up of water safety plans (WSPs) implementation needs to overcome major constraints: lack of legislation and policies, and the need for appropriate monitoring tools. In 2018, the Uruguayan regulator for energy and water services promulgated a regulation intended to ensure an ambitious and pragmatic strategy that supports and promotes WSP implementation and auditing at a national scale. The goal is to have all drinking water supply systems with their WSP implemented by 2030. For this, a demanding schedule was recommended considering the size of the drinking water supplies: (i) large systems serving more than 2,000 inhabitants and (ii) small and very small systems serving fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. A mandatory verification through internal and external audits was also established. This work describes the legal and regulatory framework as well as the challenges and opportunities that open up for the generalization of WSP implementation in Uruguay. Despite the impact of COVID-19 on working conditions for water suppliers, as for the year 2022, WSPs have been successfully implemented in 94 water systems serving more than 2.4 million people. Results of successful implementation and auditing processes are presented and discussed covering methods and outcomes.

A strategic approach for Water Safety Plans implementation in Portugal.

Effective risk assessment and risk management approaches in public drinking water systems can benefit from a systematic process for hazards identification and effective management control based on the Water Safety Plan (WSP) concept. Good results from WSP development and implementation in a small number of Portuguese water utilities have shown that a more ambitious nationwide strategic approach to disseminate this methodology is needed. However, the establishment of strategic frameworks for systematic and organic scaling-up of WSP implementation at a national level requires major constraints to be overcome: lack of legislation and policies and the need for appropriate monitoring tools. This study presents a framework to inform future policy making by understanding the key constraints and needs related to institutional, organizational and research issues for WSP development and implementation in Portugal. This methodological contribution for WSP implementation can be replicated at a global scale. National health authorities and the Regulator may promote changes in legislation and policies. Independent global monitoring and benchmarking are adequate tools for measuring the progress over time and for comparing the performance of water utilities. Water utilities self-assessment must include performance improvement, operational monitoring and verification. Research and education and resources dissemination ensure knowledge acquisition and transfer.