Introducing mWater – the New Open Data Water Monitoring System Inspired by NASA

It used to be that an apple a day would keep the doctor away, but in the modern age an app a day can have the same effect. New technology adopted from NASA is finding a use here on earth and helping communities to clean up water supplies and reduce reliance on outside agencies. The highly qualified brains behind revolutionary new app, mWater, are hoping to find a solution for the 783 million people in the world who don’t currently have access to clean drinking water.

For more information about the importance of water testing read: Growing Awareness Over the Importance of Water Testing Drives the Water Analysis Instrumentation Market.

Space and weight is highly restricted on board NASA missions, so all the water is recycled – that’s right, astronauts drink recycled pee. To make sure this is a safe source of drinking water, NASA developed a coliform bacteria test that could be performed under restricted conditions and without any hefty equipment. With the help of John Feighery – an ex-environmental engineer at Johnson Space Centre, and the co-founder and chief scientist of mWater – this technology is now available in a free app that could revolutionise water aid around the world.

Testing water sources in a cost-effective way is only one part of the solution. The next step is to make the information freely available to everyone, which is where previous methods have fallen short according to Feighery. “A lot of the time, data from projects that are done in countries just die in reports and spreadsheets that nobody ever translates or sends around,” he said, “there had to be a way to share data that anybody could use in real time.”

In addition to water testing, mWater also offers a surveying platform as a result of a partnership with Water.org. mWater Surveyor is an online and mobile platform that offers a map view of the data collected from the mWater app. In a blog post, mWater highlighted the problems faced when trying to assimilate the data collected by organisations, since it is often “locked in paper forms and multiple spreadsheets,” and, “the time between collecting data and actually using it to make decisions can stretch from months to years, missing the opportunity to make the data actionable.” 

In order to speed up the process of data collection and analysis, mWater allows anyone to sign up to the platform for free and add water points to the map. Each water point is individually numbered, making it easier for NGOs and local governments to analyse the data and take action.

There are no monthly costs, and the software doesn’t require computer experts with specialist training to operate. The only cost is the $5 water test kit, which is easy to use, doesn’t require any incubators, and is comparable to gold standard water tests. According to Clayton Grassick, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, mWater “enables collaboration and compatibility with other methods of water testing,” meaning this technology can exist alongside current methods and help move governments and NGOs towards a common goal: providing clean and safe drinking water to even the most remote communities in the world.

You can read more about water quality monitoring in our article: Remote Water Quality Monitoring made Hassle Free.