WatMap
The Worldwide Drinking Water Quality and Treatment Map (WatMap) uses citizen science and democratized engineering to improve access to healthy water.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Tamale
Project Province/State
Northern Ghana
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Ghana
Your idea
Year organization founded:
2006
Year initiative began:
2007
Service/activity focus:
Other
If Service/activity focus is "other" please define in 1-2 words below:
Self-Help / Awareness / Citizen Science
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Project URL
Name Your Project
WatMap
Describe Your Idea
The Worldwide Drinking Water Quality and Treatment Map (WatMap) uses citizen science and democratized engineering to improve access to healthy water.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
The Worldwide Drinking Water Quality and Treatment Map (WatMap) uses citizen science and democratized engineering to improve access to healthy water.
Describe what makes your idea unique--different from all others in the field.
WatMap uses advanced spatial mapping to empower communities to assess their water quality, understand the parameters affecting water quality, and access/innovate appropriate treatment and supply solutions. No other projects have been undertaken which combine open source spatial mapping with citizen empowerment in science and engineering in this manner.
Watmap’s cheap and easy to use water quality test kits and training materials help disadvantaged communities access knowledge about their water quality. In addition to enabling them to seek appropriate treatment methods, this process creates lasting solutions by helping communities conceptualize the factors affecting water quality such as herd grazing patterns, latrine placement, and water storage practices.
WatMap includes an interactive, geo-tagged online database which: (1) predicts regions of poor water quality, and (2) promotes innovation in water treatment technologies by improving knowledge of local water quality parameters.
Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how did you create them?
The WatMap project has been working with communities and NGOs in China, India, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, and the US for the past two years. These partnerships were created through previous years of collaboration on water and air quality related projects. They represent a good initial constituency in order to optimize WatMap for use by diverse world citizens. We have also partnered with MIT, WaterAid, and Google.org in order to combine our previously separate efforts in similar areas.
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (non profits, NGOs) , Private sector , Public sector (government) , Academic sector (universities).
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
To significantly reduce waterborne illness by making water quality assessment and treatment accessible to all communities who seek it internationally.
Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation.
In addition to decreasing waterborne illnesses overall, WatMap has the potential to: 1) improve community self efficacy in general, 2) increase awareness in diverse communities (e.g. village, city neighborhood, school, or scientific communities), 3) encourage healthier water related behaviors, 4) avoid mass outbreaks of waterborne illnesses (such as the Bangladesh arsenic case), 5) improve monitoring strategies for water intervention projects, and 6) promote continued community-based innovation for locally appropriate water solutions.
Is there a policy intervention element to your innovation?
There is no direct policy intervention involved in this innovation, but WatMap does give policy-makers access to a wealth of information concerning water quality on both a local and national level. This has the potential to improve the design of political interventions and regulations.
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit from your innovation?
All people, in both the developed and developing world, will have the opportunity to learn about and improve their water quality through WatMap. Since diarrhoea due to water-borne pathogens is responsible for 4% of global deaths and 5% of global health loss due to disability, WatMap significantly benefits communities with poor water quality. As children under the age of five living in Asia and Africa carry the majority of this health burden, they will be the primary beneficiaries.
What is the key decision that you are trying to influence through your innovation/design?
WatMap tries to increase access to knowledge about water quality and access to appropriate interventions among communities, scientists, and policy-makers. This encourages healthier water practices and increases community access to appropriate and sustainable water treatment.
What have you learned about how people respond to your innovation/design?
This project started when communities in rural China asked us to help them learn to test their water quality. As this project has developed and expanded, many communities have sought us out because they too wish to know the quality of their drinking water, gain an understand of what affects it, and gain knowledge of and access to treatment and supply options. Water is a fundamental need of all humans and all humans deserve to have some say in their water quality.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
This project has built upon prior related work and funding through seed grants. In the future, it will be primarily supported by the sales of WatMap water testing kits and by the time input of partner NGOs and Universities.
Financing source
Annual budget
This field has not been completed. (200 characters or less)
Annual revenue generated
This field has not been completed. (200 characters or less)
Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers)
Three part-time, ten volunteers
What are the main financial barriers, and how do you plan to address them?
Funding for management and water testing kit assembly will be the main cost which we plan to meet through sales of this same kit.
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow and scale the initiative?
By collaborating with organizations such as WaterAid, the Global Water Initiative, and others, we see our water quality testing kits, interactive geo-tagged website, and information resources becoming accessible throughout the world in both print and digital forms. Connecting with local organizations and governments will provide local support and widespread reach of this initiative.
The Story
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to the creation of this innovation? Tell the story.
WatMap began as two separate projects with the same goal. One was started by MIT researcher, Susan Murcott, in Ghana. The other was started by One Earth Designs, an NGO, in China. The impetus of both projects was the simple request of local villagers for better access to information about their own water quality and potential treatment methods. Since then, WatMap has been implemented in more than 50 communities in China, India, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, and the US.
Please name and provide a personal bio of the social innovator behind this initiative.
Scot Frank is co-founder and CEO of One Earth Designs (OED), an NGO leveraging science/engineering education and infrastructure development to help communities realize their unique visions of sustainable living. Scot has worked to provide clean water and energy to populations throughout Asia and to environmental quality in the Himalayan region.
[WatMap is the collective work of several innovators, also including: Susan Murcott, Jenny VanCalcar, Catlin Powers (OED co-founder), and others.]
At what stage is this initiative?
Innovative idea , Implementation and impact , Implemented with replication and scale-up.
What resources would you need to take your initiative to the next stage?
Financial seed support to meet recent infrastructure/resource demands for WatMap; partnership with organizations and communities in diverse geographies to enhance the outreach of this initiative.
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate? (Confidential)
Email announcement through a public service mailing list at MIT.
We believe this is an innovation for which the world is waiting. Our aim is to provide this crucial platform to those who need access to safe drinking water for daily life. At the request of the communities and organizations we have worked with in the past, we are committed to seeing this solution through to completion.
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