Internet of Things (IoT) for a water quality revolution
THE QUESTION
Can IoT sensors to improve the monitoring of water quality in refugee camps?
LOCATION: Jordan
SECTOR: WASH & Humanitarian Aid
TECH: Internet of Things (IoT)
TIMELINE: March - November 2020
PIONEER: Rachael Beaven
PARTNERS: Field Ready, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
The Challenge
Collecting accurate, real-time, usable data to inform decision making is a huge problem in the international development sector, particularly in humanitarian situations. Humanitarian organisations spend tens-of-millions of dollars each year on water distribution in disaster settings. Unfortunately, much of this water never reaches the people it’s intended for, due to waste, fraud and abuse that can go unchecked in the delivery process. This leads to a 30% margin of error of water supply in refugee camps during emergency situations.
The Idea
This pilot embedded Internet of Things (IoT) connected sensors into trucks carrying water into refugee/IDP camps to collect real time data to see if it would enhance accountability and decision making.
The Journey
What we learned
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the pilot team was unable to travel to Jordan, which impacted the devices’ suitability for the local context. While the remote plan was optimistic, there is no substitute for being in the local environment, seeing the operating context first hand and talking to the people who will be using or selling parts for the device directly.
Measuring water is complicated due to the complex flow variable, and IoT sensors are mostly capable of measuring simple things. The accuracy issue with the device may have been mitigated if the object of measurement was simpler.
Locally-made solutions may not always be the best solution. In this pilot, the right parts for the device were not available locally and had to be bought internationally. While the parts were still cheap, it was not as convenient as being made locally. This raises the question of the value of local manufacturing, if you still have to buy the parts from elsewhere. Even so, it is easier to repair products if they were assembled locally.
All photos on this page were taken by the pilot’s implementing partners, Field Ready and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).What happened next?
Field Ready and NRC continued to iterate the IoT device with funding from NRC. They will conduct further product iterations and field trials in North-East Syria.
Read more
Learn how IoT technology can provide life-saving water — “How IoT technology provides life-saving water and freezes out H20 bandits”
Read the key learnings from the pilot’s launch — “Full Flow — Testing times in water distribution monitoring”