„Water-Safety-Plan“ – challenges for water suppliers

The WHO has recommended comprehensive risk identification and risk management under the term ‘Water Safety Plan’, which aims to systematically identify, assess and manage health risks in all processes from the ‘catchment area to the tap’. In Europe, this is addressed in DIN EN 15975-2 (2013-12) ‘Safety of drinking water supply – Guidelines for risk and crisis management – Part 2: Risk management’.

The German Drinking Water Ordinance (TrinkwV), which was updated in 2023, requires all water suppliers to subject their water supply system to risk management for the first time by 12 January 2029 (or 12 January 2033 for smaller suppliers). Drinking water catchment areas must even be assessed by 12 November 2025 in accordance with the Drinking Water Catchment Areas Ordinance (TrinkwEGV). This is a tight schedule and represents a major challenge, especially for small water suppliers.

We recommend the website of the Federal Environment Agency for in-depth literature research.