Evaluating Mobile Survey Tools (MSTs) for Field-Level Monitoring and Data Collection: Development of a Novel Evaluation Framework, and Application to MSTs for Rural Water and Sanitation Monitoring

Fisher, Michael B.; H., Mann, Benjamin; Cronk, Ryan; Shields, Katherine F.; Klug, Tori; Ramaswamy, Rohit

doi:10.3390/ijerph13090840

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…We contend that there is a major opportunity to strengthen understanding of household‐level and community‐level resilience to climate change through robust assessments of household water sources and uses. This opportunity coincides with the recent emergence of electronic survey platforms which make such data acquisition practical and affordable (Fisher et al, ; MacDonald et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Multiple Household Water Sources and Their Use in Remote Communities With Evidence From Pacific Island Countries

Elliott

MacDonald

Chan

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

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Global water research and monitoring typically focus on the household's “main source of drinking‐water.” Use of multiple water sources to meet daily household needs has been noted in many developing countries but rarely quantified or reported in detail. We gathered self‐reported data using a cross‐sectional survey of 405 households in eight communities of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and five Solomon Islands (SI) communities. Over 90% of households used multiple sources, with differences in sources and uses between wet and dry seasons. Most RMI households had large rainwater tanks and rationed stored rainwater for drinking throughout the dry season, whereas most SI households collected rainwater in small pots, precluding storage across seasons. Use of a source for cooking was strongly positively correlated with use for drinking, whereas use for cooking was negatively correlated or uncorrelated with nonconsumptive uses (e.g., bathing). Dry season water uses implied greater risk of water‐borne disease, with fewer (frequently zero) handwashing sources reported and more unimproved sources consumed. Use of multiple sources is fundamental to household water management and feasible to monitor using electronic survey tools. We contend that recognizing multiple water sources can greatly improve understanding of household‐level and community‐level climate change resilience, that use of multiple sources confounds health impact studies of water interventions, and that incorporating multiple sources into water supply interventions can yield heretofore‐unrealized benefits. We propose that failure to consider multiple sources undermines the design and effectiveness of global water monitoring, data interpretation, implementation, policy, and research.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Multiple Household Water Sources and Their Use in Remote Communities With Evidence From Pacific Island Countries

Elliott

MacDonald

Chan

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

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“…The monitoring programme involved a large number of enumerators spending around 16 weeks continually travelling between water points. Although the success of the programme was facilitated by the use of a mobile based survey tool, which helped streamline the data collection and analysis 49 , it is unlikely that such high intensity monitoring programmes are economically or practically feasible in normal conditions. Recently, however, there have been a number of innovations in smart monitoring technologies, using sensors on hand-pumps 31,[50][51][52][53] and motorised boreholes 54 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative performance of rural water supplies during drought

et al. 2020

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As rural African communities experience more frequent and extreme droughts, it is increasingly important that water supplies are climate resilient. Using a unique temporal dataset we explore rural water supply (n = 5196) performance during the 2015-16 drought in Ethiopia. Mean functionality ranged from 60% for motorised boreholes to 75% for handpumped boreholes. Real-time monitoring and responsive operation and maintenance led to rapid increases in functionality of hand-pumped and, to a lesser extent, motorised boreholes. Increased demand was placed on motorised boreholes in lowland areas as springs, hand-dugwells and open sources failed. Most users travelled >1 h to access motorised boreholes but <30 min, increasing to 30-60 mins, for hand-pumped boreholes. Boreholes accessing deep (>30 m) groundwater performed best during the drought. Prioritising access to groundwater via multiple improved sources and a portfolio of technologies, such as hand-pumped and motorised boreholes, supported by responsive and proactive operation and maintenance, increases rural water supply resilience.

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“…MSTs can be used to standardize and verify data. Surveys following good practice data collection protocols, including quality control checks, will reduce data errors . For example, better skip-logic would have reduced data entry errors in both monitoring data sets (e.g., we excluded several misclassified water system types from both data sets).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing Water System Functionality in Nigeria and Tanzania: A Regression and Bayesian Network Analysis

Cronk

Bartram

2017

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Sufficient, safe, and continuously available water services are important for human development and health yet many water systems in low- and middle-income countries are nonfunctional. Monitoring data were analyzed using regression and Bayesian networks (BNs) to explore factors influencing the functionality of 82 503 water systems in Nigeria and Tanzania. Functionality varied by system type. In Tanzania, Nira handpumps were more functional than Afridev and India Mark II handpumps. Higher functionality was associated with fee collection in Nigeria. In Tanzania, functionality was higher if fees were collected monthly rather than in response to system breakdown. Systems in Nigeria were more likely to be functional if they were used for both human and livestock consumption. In Tanzania, systems managed by private operators were more functional than community-managed systems. The BNs found strong dependencies between functionality and system type and administrative unit (e.g., district). The BNs predicted functionality increased from 68% to 89% in Nigeria and from 53% to 68% in Tanzania when best observed conditions were in place. Improvements to water system monitoring and analysis of monitoring data with different modeling techniques may be useful for identifying water service improvement opportunities and informing evidence-based decision-making for better management, policy, programming, and practice.

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Evaluating Mobile Survey Tools (MSTs) for Field-Level Monitoring and Data Collection: Development of a Novel Evaluation Framework, and Application to MSTs for Rural Water and Sanitation Monitoring

Cited by 10 publications

References 11 publications

Multiple Household Water Sources and Their Use in Remote Communities With Evidence From Pacific Island Countries

Multiple Household Water Sources and Their Use in Remote Communities With Evidence From Pacific Island Countries

Comparative performance of rural water supplies during drought

Factors Influencing Water System Functionality in Nigeria and Tanzania: A Regression and Bayesian Network Analysis

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