Record anything that went wrong with the water itself. Each failure is multiplied by its risk factor, then scaled by the size of the plant or zone, and added into the Compliance Index.

• Protozoa barrier failures (plants): days the treatment that removes or kills protozoa such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium didn't work as it should, for example filtered water turbidity too high or UV dose too low. Always f=5.
• Bacterial barrier failures (plants and zones): days disinfection fell short, for example chlorine too low. Always f=5.
• Parameter failures: a test result over the limit for a specific substance or measure, such as E. coli, lead or iron. Pick it from the list and enter the days or samples over the limit. Each has its own risk factor, shown next to its name.

Days or samples? The Rules check treatment and monitoring one day at a time, so plants with continuous online monitoring count each day that didn't comply. Smaller plants that rely on sampling count each failed sample instead. Use the same approach each year so your scores stay comparable.

The list only shows parameters that can be recorded at that location. Anything that comes from the source water or from treatment, such as pH, fluoride, nitrate, iron or manganese, can be recorded at a plant or a zone. Things that form or change in the pipes, such as lead, copper or trihalomethanes, are zone only.

Record each failure once, where it was measured. If a result over the limit at the plant outlet also shows up in the zones it supplies, record it at the plant only, or it will be counted twice.

Record requirements under the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules that were missed. These are the checks, monitoring and records that show your water is being kept safe, even when the water itself was fine.

For each plant, each zone, and your organisation as a whole, add a row for each requirement that was missed and how often: the number of days for requirements checked every day, or 1 for a one-off such as an overdue plan. The list only shows requirements that apply at that level. Each has its own risk factor, shown next to its name.

Plan status also counts: each plant's source water risk management plan and each zone's water safety plan add 0 if up to date, 2 if under review, and 5 if missing or expired. Set these on the Network tab.

Both scores in one place. Lower is better. The tables show how much each plant and zone adds to the totals, so you can see where to focus.

My Water, at the bottom, shows one zone from a customer's point of view: everything that affected the water reaching that zone, counting only the plants that supply it.

Track your scores over time. Save a snapshot whenever it makes sense, for example at the end of each reporting year or after an upgrade.

Each snapshot shows both scores and the change since the one before. A green down arrow means things improved; a red up arrow means they got worse. Click Details on a row to see every plant and zone as they were at that time.

Everything you take out of the tool is here.

• PDF report: choose which tabs to include and click Generate PDF. When the print window opens, choose Save as PDF.
• Export to Excel: all your results and entries as a spreadsheet file.
• Save to file: keeps everything (network, failures, risk factors and snapshots) in one file on your computer. Use Open a saved file to carry on later or share with a colleague.