Water resources and quality

Rapid assessment of drinking water quality (RADWQ)

WEDC staff involved:

• Michael Smith
• Dr Margaret Ince, Dr Sam Godfrey

Summary of project activities and outcomes:

For this project, WHO and UNICEF developed the Rapid Assessment of Drinking Water Quality (RADWQ) procedure, and piloted it in six countries, representing different regions of the world with different pollution problems and states of development.

WEDC staff contributed to the development of the RADWQ procedures, helped produce the RADWQ handbook, and assisted with management and supervision of field work in specific countries.

Rapid assessment of drinking-water quality (RADWQ) uses intensive field work to collect one-off (not routine, iterative or long-term) water quality and sanitary inspection data from statistically representative water supplies, which are then analysed to improve the knowledge and understanding of which technologies deliver safe drinking-water. Results from the pilot countries were compiled for publication, and the RADWQ methodology could prove to be valuable because RADWQ builds capacity at the right institutional level and creates a feeling of ownership. WHO published the RADWQ handbook in 2012.