Infrastructure alone cannot ensure resilience to weather events in drinking water supplies.

Climate resilient water supplies are those that provide access to drinking water that is sustained through seasons and through extreme events, and where good water quality is also sustained. While surface and groundwater quality are widely understood to vary with rainfall, there is a gap in the evidence on the impact of weather and extremes in rainfall and temperature on drinking water quality, and the role of changes in water system management. A three-country (Bangladesh, Nepal and Tanzania) observational field study tracked 2353 households clustered around 685 water sources across seven different geographies over 14 months. Water quality (E. coli) data was modelled using GEE to account for clustering effects and repeated measures at households. All types of infrastructure were vulnerable to changes in weather, with differences varying between geographies; protected boreholes provided the greatest protection at the point of collection (PoC). Water quality at the point of use (PoU) was vulnerable to changes in weather, through changes in PoC water quality as well as changes in management behaviours, such as safe storage, treatment and cleaning. This is the first study to demonstrate the impact of rainfall and temperature extremes on water quality at the PoC, and the role that weather has on PoU water quality via management behaviours. Climate resilience for water supplies needs to consider the infrastructure as well as the management decisions that are taking place at a community and household level.

Development and implementation of water safety plans for small water supplies in Bangladesh: benefits and lessons learned.

Water safety plans (WSPs) are promoted by the WHO as the most effective means of securing drinking water safety. To date most experience with WSPs has been within utility supplies, primarily in developed countries. There has been little documented experience of applying WSPs to small community-managed systems, particularly in developing countries. This paper presents a case study from Bangladesh describing how WSPs can be developed and implemented for small systems. Model WSPs were developed through consultation with key water sector practitioners in the country. Simplified tools were developed to translate the formal WSPs into a format that was meaningful and accessible for communities to use. A series of pilot projects were implemented by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) across the country covering all major water supplies. The results show that WSPs can be developed and implemented for small community managed water supplies and improve the sanitary condition and water quality of water sources. Hygiene behaviour improved and household water quality showed a significant reduction in contamination. Chlorination was found to be important for some technologies, thus increasing the costs of water supply and raising important problems with respect to transfer to the communities. Simple tools for community monitoring were found to be effective in supporting better water safety management.