Water security plan. Towards a more resilient drinking water infrastructure

The purpose of the Water Security Plan (WSecP) is the planning and implementation of preparedness, prevention, response and recovery strategies against malicious attacks on drinking water supply systems. Deliberate contamination could impact many people and disrupt interconnected services. The Water Security Plan focuses on the protection and resilience of drinking water infrastructure against intentional threats and provides guidance for water utilities and decision makers. These proposals have been developed from operational experiences of using innovative real-time monitoring tools and technologies. Benefits from the latest tools and technologies include improved resource allocation and optimization, and developing more effective security solutions for water supply systems. The concept has been elaborated to cover attacks along the entire distribution range from water source to tap, and addresses both large and small water utilities. The paper provides the framework upon which the Water Security Plan should be elaborated, such as methodologies, system components, best practices and future perspectives. The aim is not to be exhaustive but rather to offer an overarching picture of the key elements which should be considered and implemented by water operators to enhance drinking water security. The proposed Water Security Plan guidance has been produced by the ERNCIP Thematic Group on “Chemical and Biological Risks to Drinking Water”. The paper concludes with some recommendations and practical observations for drinking water suppliers.