Water monitoring `easier` with free mobile phone app
3 April 2012
Environmental Expert.com - March 30, 2012
The Water Quality Reporter (WQR) application was developed by the iCOMMS team at the civil engineering department at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, under the leadership of Associate Professor Ulrike Rivett.
The application was developed under the auspices of Aquatest – a multi-disciplinary international research programme conducted by a University of Bristol-led consortium – which is developing affordable water-testing hardware and software for use in developing countries.
The reporting application means people with entry-level mobile phones can submit water quality test results via SMS.
As well as developing the WQR software, the iCOMMS team have also developed mechanisms for integrating water quality results into existing information systems, and a feedback loop between communities and supporting authorities.
The system is being used to carry out residual chlorine water testing, and to carry out hydrogen sulphide tests, which check for microbiological contamination in water destined for household use.
Category: Water