I work in the water industry ...

I work in the water industry of the Australian state of Victoria, which was an early adopter of WSPs, having made them mandatory for Victorian water utilities in 2003.  I worked for nine years with the state Department of Health, in the area of drinking water regulation, and for the past five years I have worked in a senior water quality role in a regional Victorian water utility.

Over the past 14 years it is my assessment that WSPs should not be viewed as a business cost, but as a business investment in the production of safe drinking water.  WSPs currently provide the best available framework for the production of safe drinking water, by proactively managing risks to drinking water quality, rather than utilities having to react, in retrospect, to adverse water quality results, by which time consumers potentially have consumed unsafe drinking water.

I do agree with Ian's assessment that getting traction for the implementation of WSPs is challenging in low income settings, but WHO have produced a wide range of resources to assist with WSP implementation (see attached file).

It is not correct to say that WSPs don't include water quality monitoring - they do, it is just that the monitoring is done to verify that safe drinking was supplied; the WSP instead emphasises knowing how your treatment barriers performed that allowed for the production of safe drinking water.

The only way that I know of that WSPs can generate income is by enabling that production of safe drinking water that your customers will be happy to pay for.

Cheers

David Sheehan