Small water supplies face similar problems worldwide, regardless of ownership or management type. Non-compliance with water quality regulations is more frequent in small supplies than in large ones, as are waterborne disease outbreaks. The new European Union Drinking Water Directive requires risk-based approach (RBA) to secure water safety as is recommended in the World Health Organization's Guidelines for drinking water quality through ‘water safety plans’. This is already in regulation in the Nordic countries, although less used in small supplies. In this research, we explore the challenges, barriers and possible solutions to implementing RBA and improving compliance in small supplies. This was achieved by conducting and analysing interviews with 53 stakeholders from all eight Nordic countries to produce recommendations for action by the different implicated actors. Our findings suggest the centrality of governmental policy, including support for continuous training, provision of simple RBA guidelines and increasing cooperation in the water sector. The Nordic experience reflects global challenges with small water supplies and the trend towards systematic preventive management epitomized in the framework for drinking water safety advocated by the World Health Organization since 2004.

无论所有权或管理类型如何，小型供水系统在全球范围内都面临着类似的问题。小规模供水中不遵守水质法规的情况比大型供水中更常见，水传播疾病的爆发也是如此。新的欧盟饮用水指令要求采用基于风险的方法（RBA）来确保水安全，正如世界卫生组织通过“水安全计划”制定的饮用水质量指南中所建议的那样。北欧国家已经对此进行了监管，但在小规模供应中使用较少。在这项研究中，我们探讨了实施 RBA 和提高小供应商合规性的挑战、障碍和可能的解决方案。这是通过对来自所有八个北欧国家的 53 个利益相关者进行访谈并进行分析来实现的，以便为不同相关行为者提供行动建议。我们的研究结果表明政府政策的核心地位，包括支持持续培训、提供简单的 RBA 指导方针以及加强水领域的合作。北欧的经验反映了全球供水量不足的挑战，以及世界卫生组织自 2004 年以来倡导的饮用水安全框架所体现的系统性预防性管理的趋势。