The WASH SMS Project is harnessing the potential of mobile phones and internet technology to create a highly accessible communication and data tracking system that develops crowd-sourced data i the form of maps and data sets to improve water and sanitation services for the urban poor. The goal of the project is to leverage ubiquitous technology to increase the exchange, collection and monitoring of information among communities, water and sanitation service providers, and government, in order to improve services for the urban poor in developing country cities. WASH SMS has received support from USAID and Cisco Foundation. The first pilot of the WASH SMS system is currently in progress in Malang (East Java Province) and Makassar (South Sulawesi Province), Indonesia.

Project Results

By enabling information about water and sanitation problems to flow among communities, governmental entities, and service providers, this platform will support rapid, informed decision-making on acute and chronic water problems as well as make the inequities of access to WASH services ‘visible’ to planning agencies and utilities. Governments can increase service provision to underserved and vulnerable communities, alert residents to service changes, aggregate data on informal water services, unserviced areas, and aquifer levels, as well as assess and prepare for risks associated with climate variability and change. Using SMS, email, or the web, citizens and residents can remotely report conditions such as poor water quality and sewage backflow, register lack of infrastructure to aid in network expansion, and view information on the status of service provision and problem resolution.