Committee

Access to safe drinking water is a key aspect of community health. Beyond the efforts made on the path towards Universalization, some 2.2 billion people in the world still do not have a water supply that provides them with these guarantees.

This 2024 marks twenty years since the publication of the third edition of the WHO’s Guidelines for drinking-water quality, which presented Water Safety Plans (WSP) as the most effective means to systematically guarantee the security of the drinking water supply, through the use of a comprehensive risk assessment and management approach, covering all steps of the water supply, from collection to consumer. In that same year, this recognition of WSP as the best practice in this regard was also postulated through the Bonn Charter (IWA).

The development and implementation of Water Safety Plans in Supply Systems is aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, in particular with compliance with Sustainable Development Goal number 6 (SDG 6), which aims to guarantee availability and sustainable management. of water and sanitation for all. Halfway between its formulation and the target year, this indicator improved notably in rural areas, but stagnated or decreased in urban areas, so achieving this goal requires significantly accelerating progress.

The sixth Water Security Conference WSC Montevideo 2024, once again resumes the momentum and path marked by its predecessors: Lisbon (2008); Malaysia (2010); Uganda (2012); Philipinnes (2016) and Narvik (2022), resuming the biennial cycle and landing for the first time in the Americas.

In Uruguay, the host country of the Conference, since 2018 the Regulatory Unit (URSEA) approved the regulations that establish the mandatory development and implementation of Water Safety Plans in all Supply Systems in 2030. In this sense, the water utility Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE), with more than 12 years of experience in the subject, has been working in this direction and this year represents half of the period scheduled to achieve the goal of Universalization. This is not the only example of a regulation in this sense in the region, since 2021 in Brazil it is planned that the public Health authority may require those responsible for the Water Supply Systems to prepare and implement WSP.

In the time since the Narvik Conference, a key milestone was the publication of a new edition of WHO’s Water Safety Plan Manual. It includes more than 10 years of practical experience in implementing Plans around the world. This second edition simplifies guidance on integrating climate resilience and equity into the water security planning approach, to help support access to safely managed drinking water services for all users, despite of the growing uncertainties arising from a changing climate, in addition to placing emphasis on the sustained and effective implementation of Water Safety Plans through the development of a concept of ‘water security planning in action, including continuous cycles of development , operation, verification and review and a greater focus on monitoring and

During the Conference, other key topics in the development of Water Security Plans will also be addressed, such as technology and management, emerging challenges, new regulatory approaches and audits, water recovery and reuse strategies, as well as water safety in infrastructure, buildings and the home.

We want to invite you to join this event, a Conference that will combine: research and academic work, with applied cases with the experiences of drinking water professionals, operators, regulators and decision makers from different parts of the world. We will meet to discuss best practices to continue building together the path towards permanent improvement in the security of the planet’s water supply.

Follow us to know the news of this Water Safety Conference 2024 (https://watersafety2024.org/)

Welcome to Montevideo, from September 4 to 6, 2024.

We are waiting for you!