Mobile App for water quality sampling

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I am currently working with a small group of Health Inspectors in the South West Pacific. They don't have high tech IT resources available, but they are equipped with smartphones. For their health project they need a mobile App for water quality sampling. 

Does anyone know of a phone-based app for water quality sampling?  
The app should be able to:

It should also be able to handle input from a group of about 4-5 teammates and have storage/retrieval functionality for results calculations. 

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11 Answers

  1. If question is about only phone-​based app for ​water quality ​sampling, then ODK is the best option. one can easily prepare template, collect data and submit it to cloud! 

  2. Hello Malcolm,

    Our portable water quality test for E. coli bacteria, the Compartment Bag Test (CBT), is supported by the mWater Mobile App. mWater is a free, open source data platform for managing projects in water, sanitation and health. With smartphone GPS and cameras, mWater users can map and monitor anything, perform mobile surveys and share test results in real time.

    mWater features for the Aquagenx CBT let users with smartphones and tablets:

    • Automatically calculate CBT test results – Most Probable Number (MPN) of E. coli in 100 mL sample
    • Automatically calculate Upper 95% Confidence Interval of sample results
    • Automatically calculate World Health Organization Health Risk Category of sample
    • Share test results in real time
    • Create maps and visualizations of CBT water quality data
    • Geocode test results with smartphone GPS
    • Create your own surveys using the CBT or use mWater’s built-in surveys
    • Combine test results with other survey questions

    Read more here: https://www.aquagenx.com/aquagenx-cbt-mwater-mobile-app/

  4. Hello Malcom:

    Check out this video that describes how you can get your field techs to use their mobile device to do their field data collection and then easily import the data into Hydro GeoAnalyst.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SnNFtFYnfk

  5. Hi Malcolm,

    Hydro GeoAnalyst's Mobile EDD component can do most of that, plus provides many other options for management of environmental and water-related data:  https://www.waterloohydrogeologic.com/2016/10/24/mobile-edds-with-hydro-geoanalyst/

  6. Dear Malcom , You can ask AKVO (http://akvo.org/) as I know they are working on smartphone based water quality sampling app. They have nice monitoring services build on smartphone apps. The contact of AKVO is Mr. Ayan Biswas . Hope this will help you. Thanks.

    1 Comment

    1.   many thanks for your replies will check them out.  I found this app here http://www.mwater.co/ which seems to fulfill all requirements which might be of interest . A useful addition is it also includes the ability to store data about mosquito habitat although they do porduce a separate zika tracker.

  7. Hi Malcolm,

    You can definitely use our Magpi system for that.

    We have different levels of subscription, and for the item you describe everything fits within the free version except for "take a photo", which requires a paid version .  Advantages are that you could probably have the system up and running yourself within a day, as Magpi requires no programming, technical expertise, or server setup, etc. And all accounts receive free tech support via email at support@magpi.com

    Magpi also includes data collection via SMS and IVR, too – as well as great built-in visualization and text/audio messaging.

    You can sign up for free at http://home.magpi.com and I'm happy to answer questions.

    Best,

    Joel

    1 Comment

    1. many thanks for your replies will check them out.  I found this app here http://www.mwater.co/ which seems to fulfill all requirements which might be of interest . A useful addition is it also includes the ability to store data about mosquito habitat although they do porduce a separate zika tracker.

  9. Hi Malcom

    I've never come across an app for that. Maybe a syncable spreadsheet app would work? They could hire a programmer if they can't find something to suit them.

    But, to pose a question; Why do they think they need to collect data digitally? Call me old school, but I prefer pencil and paper. Field tech has a tendency to break or quit even in nicest of weathers. How wet is the working environment? Will they be working outside? Most consultants in Canada still record sampling data on custom forms (I can provide you with a sample) printed on "Rite in the rain" paper. This goes hand in hand with field notes. There are good procedures in place for note taking and sample records (let me know if needed). 

    I know paper and pencil is not sexy but it gets the job done in the rain, the snow, the cold, the heat, the wind, the dirt....

  11. Malkon, you may like to use Fulcrum - water Sample Testing app: This can collect record water samples for testing around agriculture, aquaculture, well water, livestock, pesticides, or petrochemicals.http://www.fulcrumapp.com/apps/water-sample-testing-form/ 

    Not sure if thats available for free. But good to check.

    Also explore Water Quality Reporter app if possible.