3.10.2 Reporting

Summary of actions

• Establish procedures for effective internal and external reporting.

• Produce an annual report to be made available to consumers, regulatory authorities and stakeholders.

Reporting includes the internal and external reporting of activities pertinent to drinking water quality management.

Internal reporting supports effective decision making at the various levels of the organisation, including operations staff and management, senior executive and the board of directors. It also provides a way to communicate information on decisions to employees throughout the organisation.

Internal reporting requirements should be defined and a system developed for communication between the various levels and functions of the organisation. Documented procedures (including definition of responsibilities and authorities) should be established for regular reporting (daily, weekly, monthly etc). These reports should include summaries of monitoring data, performance evaluation and significant operational problems that occurred during the reporting period. Results from audit and management reviews should also be communicated to those within the organisation responsible for performance.

External reporting ensures that drinking water quality management is open and transparent. It includes reporting to regulatory bodies, consumers and other stakeholders in accordance with requirements. External reporting requirements should be established in consultation with consumers and the relevant regulatory authorities; procedures for information dissemination should also be developed.

Agreement should be reached with health and other relevant regulators on requirements for:

• regular reports summarising performance and water quality data;

• event reports on significant system failures that may pose a health risk or adversely affect water quality for an extended period (see Section 3.6.2).

Reports should be provided to regulatory authorities on incidents defined in agreed incident and emergency response protocols. If necessary, the relevant health authority or drinking water regulator can then ensure that public health concerns are reported to the community.

An annual report should be produced and made available to consumers, regulatory authorities and stakeholders. The annual report should:

• summarise drinking water quality performance over the preceding year against numerical guideline values, regulatory requirements or agreed levels of service, and identify water quality trends and problems;

• summarise any system failures and the action taken to resolve them;

• specify to whom the drinking water supplier is accountable, statutory or legislative requirements, and minimum reporting requirements;

• indicate whether monitoring was carried out in accordance with the principles of risk management set out in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, standards set by the regulator and any requirements contained in agreed levels of service.

Annual reports should contain sufficient information to enable individuals or groups to make informed judgments about the quality of drinking water and provide a basis for discussions about the priorities that will be given to improving drinking water quality. The annual report represents an opportunity to canvass feedback, and it should therefore encourage consumers and stakeholders to provide comment.