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IBM uses big data to save water

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 25 Mar 2013

To commemorate World Water Day on 22 March, IBM and the City of Tshwane launched "WaterWatchers", a mobile app that can be used to report water-related issues.

Roughly R11 billion in municipal revenue is lost due to water leaks and burst pipes across SA. This equates to 40% of our water going down the drain.

IBM is using big data to prevent water wastage and is calling on South African citizens to help map leaks in water systems using their mobile phones.

The 30-day crowdsourcing project will allow for the capturing, sharing and analysis of information about SA's water distribution system. The initiative is driven by an app and SMS facility, which citizens can use to report water leaks, faulty pipes and general water-related concerns. This data will be aggregated into a WaterWatchers report, which will create a unified view of the problems with the water distribution system.

Users need only take a photo of the issue and answer three simple questions about the particular water canal or pipe. The data is uploaded in real time to a central database, and 30 days later, the information will be analysed and aggregated into a meaningful "leak hot spot" map for SA.

"This project is a natural extension of the work we have done to address non-water revenue in Tshwane with IBM, and as the capital city, we will lead the roll out of this programme nationally," says Tshwane executive mayor, councillor Kgosientso Ramokgopa. "We challenge the other cities to join the initiative and help manage this precious resource as best as we can."

"This project is about analysing use, predicting demand and managing the future of our country's water," says IBM SA Smarter Planet executive, Ahmed Simjee, who encourages all citizens to become "citizen scientists" by protecting the environment.

The WaterWatchers report will be made available to local municipalities and water control boards, which will help local municipalities to prioritise improvements to city water infrastructure.

According to IBM, this kind of platform has the potential to promote similar applications that can be used to monitor and report on anything from city services and wildlife, to noise pollution and weather.

The local project was inspired by the brand's "CreekWatch" initiative in San Jose, California. The CreekWatch mobile app allows users to monitor the health of local waterways and is currently being used in more than 25 countries.

"By enabling countless individuals to gather and submit data, WaterWatchers represents a new kind of data aggregation, analytics and visualisation for water planners in South Africa - and is exactly the kind of big data challenge IBM excels at solving," concludes Simjee.

The app is free and available for download at www.ibmwaterwatchers.co.za. At present, it is available on Android but will be made available on other operating systems soon. Those without a smartphone can SMS their issues to 45946, or visit the WaterWatchers Web site.

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