Jalba, D. I.Cromar, N. J.Pollard, Simon J. T.Charrois, J. W.Bradshaw, R.Hrudey, Steve E.2014-02-122014-02-122014-02-01D.I. Jalba, N.J. Cromar, S.J.T. Pollard, J.W. Charrois, R. Bradshaw and S.E. Hrudey, Effective drinking water collaborations are not accidental: Interagency relationships in the international water utility sector, Science of The Total Environment, Volumes 470-471, 1 February 2014, Pages 934–944.0048-9697http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.10.046http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/8267The role that deficient institutional relationships have played in aggravating drinking water incidents over the last 30 years has been identified in several inquiries of high profile drinking water safety events, peer-reviewed articles and media reports. These indicate that collaboration between water utilities and public health agencies (PHAs) during normal operations, and in emergencies, needs improvement. Here, critical elements of these interagency collaborations, that can be integrated within the corporate risk management structures of water utilities and PHAs alike, were identified using a grounded theory approach and 51 semi-structured interviews with utility and PHA staff. Core determinants of effective interagency relationships are discussed. Intentionally maintained functional relationships represent a key ingredient in assuring the delivery of safe, high quality drinking water.NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of The Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of The Total Environment, VOL 470-471, (2014) DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.10.046Article