Akvo

Akvo Caddisfly is a simple, low cost, open source, smartphone-based water quality testing system connected to the online data platform Akvo Flow. Using a special strip to be dipped in a water sample, a color pattern appears which is interpreted by the Caddisfly app. Akvo Caddisfly is fast, reliable and saves financial resources by making sample collection, transportation and lab costs redundant. Testing can scale up affordably, with data accessible and shareable via an online dashboard. For designing effective surveys and collecting geo-tagged information, data and images with smartphones, Akvo developed the data collection tool Akvo Flow. Caddisfly and Flow are fully integrated and can both be used in remote areas, offline and online.

Testing the Akvo tool in Myanmar
The testing of Akvo Caddisfly was done with great enthusiasm by approximately 10 volunteers in Myanmar who installed the app and collected data on water quality along 30 - 40 monitoring locations. This data will be used as input for the PhD research of 2 Myanmar PhD candidates at the TU Delft. This concept of “citizen science” was received in a very positive manner.

Using Akvo for monitoring and enforcement
Akvo Caddisfly can be used to collect data about water quality on rivers, lakes and groundwater. In the light of the rapid industrial development and the development of more economic zones, the effects on the water quality could be severe. With Akvo Caddisfly, water quality can be monitored and the source of pollution can be traced back quite easily as the geolocation of the monitoring point is being tracked. Depending on the required accuracy, different testing methods can be deployed.

Potential Clients
National and local government authorities (e.g. cities, hydrology departments, meteorological departments and urban planning); Private sector (e.g. industry, energy providers, farmers and contractors).