Monitoring safe drinking water in Sierra Leone

Studies have shown that only 65% of the drinking water supplies in the African country are functional and used. This is due to the fact that the locals do not necessarily know who to contact if the water supplies break down. When the water supply does not work, people are forced to walk many kilometers to a neighbouring village to obtain drinking water or drink contaminated surface water. This leads to diarrhea or vomiting and may lead to other more severe diseases.

IoT technology monitors drinking water supplies

To ensure safe drinking water, Kjeld Jensen from SDU UAS Center has developed the IoT technology that can monitor the functionality and drinking water consumption of solar-powered water towers in Sierra Leone.

The technology has been developed at SDU and it has so far been successfully installed at 6 water towers in the African country. Here, they report daily on functionality and water consumption. The system works in such a way that if a water tower is not functioning an alert is sent to local stakeholders and EWBDK who can then contact a local technician who can quickly move out to repair the installation.

Sustainable open source solution

 The IoT technology for the water towers is open source software and hardware and it is essential that the project is sustainable for the country. Therefore, the project aims to have local companies installing and servicing the installations.

The plan is that the production over time will take place locally, and that local companies and universities in Sierra Leone will be able to further develop the IoT technology.

Media:

SDU project in Sierra Leone ensures clean water and strengthens teaching at TEK, 25^th of August 2021