Mobile Water Management

Traditionally, measuring the water levels of rivers, (irrigation) canals and pumping stations was time consuming, costly and prone to errors. Mobile Water Management solved this by developing a simple and accurate mobile smartphone application (app). It automatically reads the water level from a photo of the staff gauge and sends this to a central database. It is not only easy, but also fast, reliable and transparent. The app even accurately reads the water level when it rains, when there is dirt on the scale, or when it is used from a few meters distance – guaranteeing reliable data in every situation.

Testing the app in Myanmar
The app worked well in Myanmar. Also, many people wanted to participate since they generally like taking photos and using their smartphone as a simple device for taking measurements. The app was tested to measure water levels near the Pan Hlaing sluice and its surrounding area and was also successfully tested in irrigation areas in Thailand.

Using Mobile Water Management
Water levels can fluctuate enormously and quickly in Myanmar’s rivers, which is particularly relevant to the construction of infrastructural projects in and around rivers (e.g. dams, bridges), maintaining irrigation schemes, floods and irrigation activities. In other countries, VanderSat and Mobile Water Management collaborate on irrigation systems: VanderSat measures the needed amount of water and Mobile Water Management assesses if enough water is available for irrigation purposes. This type of application could also be interesting for Myanmar.

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