Arup, Frank Water launch digital tools for better water management practices in India
UK-based engineering consultancy major Arup has joined forces with Frank Water, a leading UK water charity, to launch digital tools for tackling water scarcity.
The digital tools are expected to bring about efficient water resource management across India and other countries. They have been developed as an outcome of an ongoing three-year old partnership between the two in India.
The two have jointly launched the WASH Connect mobile app and WASH Basins Toolkit, which is expected to help water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) professionals, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government agencies in facilitating safe sustainable and equitable water and sanitation services.
The toolkit and app use digital tools such as the KoBo Toolbox and India Space Programme technology to help develop accurate assessments of the water situation on the ground and follow a structured six-stage water security process.
In India, Frank Water and Arup have worked together with Samerth Charitable Trust and the People’s Science Institute to help in India’s water crisis. The two Indian organisations have been working with FRANK Water in India for several years.
India has the highest number of people without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. According to Water Aid and the World Health Organisation (WHO), 163 million people still lack access to safe water and millions still defecate in the open.
Over the last three years, Arup and Frank Water have worked with more than 40 vulnerable communities in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, empowering them to develop their own answers to securing safe, clean drinking water and sanitation by mapping water resources, sharing data and facilitating groundwater recharge.
“Technology plays a fundamental role in the way we access and learn new information. The methodology we have developed in the toolkit and app aligns with global best practice in water management and integrates with the latest developments in information technology and open source satellite data whilst keeping the tasks and actions achievable and repeatable at a community and NGO level”, said Arup Project Lead Vera Ngosi.
This app will help other NGOs and local governments apply the principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM) to their own programmes across India and other parts of the world where water is in short supply. “It has the potential to change attitudes towards water resource management across India and beyond”, Ngosi added.
“Unequal allocation of water is one of the world’s most urgent problems and the outbreak of Covid-19 has only served to further highlight the need for equitable, sustainable safe water. The WASH Connect app aims to directly help communities to understand and manage their water better, ensuring they have access to resilient water resources for generations to come”, said Frank Water India Programme Manager Jon Shepherd.
The project partners had adopted a multi-level approach, working with individual communities and local government agencies to empower them to jointly control and manage water resources.
