Chapel Hill, NC – Haiti Outreach, a U.S. non-profit organization whose principle work is in Haiti, mapped 13,000+ water points across Haiti using the Aquagenx CBT Kit for E. coli bacteria and the mWater mobile app. In collaboration with World Vision, they used smart phones to collect and share water quality data on water points’ GPS location, functionality and potability, among many other indicators.
Haiti Outreach adopted the Aquagenx CBT Kit because of its simplicity and convenience in low resource, rural areas while generating quantitative test results, the Most Probable Number (MPN) of E. coli in a 100 mL sample. The mWater app let them create surveys and map Haiti’s water infrastructure such as wells, capped springs and fountains.
This large scale, national water quality survey enabled the Haitian national water agency, DINEPA, and local authorities to be in control of monitoring the water sector. The detailed test results are part of live dashboards that are used by all partners to plan water safety interventions, monitor their progression and update their impact on access to potable water.
“The Aquagenx CBT Kit is perfect for large field surveys and pairs very well with the mWater platform,” says Brian Jensen, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at Haiti Outreach.
Jensen continues, “Together, the CBT Kit and the mWater app provide a very simple workflow that reduces training time, equipment cost and sophistication, and testing turn-around time. On average one water point survey takes 25-30 minutes to cover 50+ questions and 12 water quality parameters. The results are immediately available, after the ambient temperature incubation time for the CBT Kit, in a format that makes it easy to perform quality assurance and visualize results. This has allowed longitudinal monitoring of water quality and access to potable water.”
Anyone can visit frape.mwater.co for more information on the Haiti Outreach national water survey and to see data and test results.
Digital Water Quality Monitoring and Evaluation
Digital water quality monitoring and evaluation are simplified by using the Aquagenx CBT Kit for E. coli with the mWater app. Anyone with a smartphone can use the CBT Kit with mWater to create surveys and calculate, map, track and share CBT test results in real time.
Using the Aquagenx CBT with the mWater mobile app simplifies water quality testing in the field and enables data collection and sharing without needing complex testing and data collection systems.
The Aquagenx Compartment Bag Test (CBT), is a simple, portable water quality test for E. coli bacteria that generates quantified, easy-to-score, color-change test results. It is ideal for on-site testing in low resource, rural and disaster/emergency areas. No electricity, laboratories, cold chain, expensive equipment or skilled technicians are required to use the CBT. CBT Kits are used throughout the world by NGOs, humanitarian relief agencies, governments, private companies, universities and agricultural operations.