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2. Managing water supply network operational risks effectively with a proactive approach

Do you have an appropriate suite of management plans for your water supply activities?

Is your incident escalation level effective and is your incident review process robust?

The Department of Internal Affairs Inquiry into the 2016 Havelock North gastro outbreak highlighted the importance of all water suppliers and public health agencies being prepared in advance for a waterborne outbreak, including having proactive management processes and appropriate response plans and pre-prepared communications in place.

We have recently helped one of our small, rural clients develop a suite of water quality process improvements and build internal capability so they manage their water systems more proactively.  The system improvements included:

• Quality assurance of Council’s water supply framework in an overview and verification role in response to the Havelock North Water gastro outbreak

• Facilitation and programme management of various water quality improvements including update of the Water Safety Plans and development of a Water Emergency Response Plan.

To add value, we leveraged our expertise in asset management and engaged our client through the process to establish a proactive management culture going forward. This ensured our client’s operational risks are properly managed.

The various outcomes of this project have received positive feedback from the Council’s Operation and Maintenance Contractor. The associated benefits included a revision of Council’s Water Safety Plans that reflected current practice and establishment of regular internal process reviews so the plans were live documents as well as meeting compliance requirements.

Contact: Cushla Anich or Helen Ramsey