App overview

The mWater Surveyor app is used by enumerators or field staff to collect survey data and respond to assignments and issues. Field managers use the app to do approvals and cleaning on survey responses and to delegate issues to field staff.

The mWater Surveyor includes a full relational database that can be used offline and synced with the Portal when the user has internet. Detailed maps and lists allow users to gain awareness of what's around them and what data already exists. The mWater Surveyor app is available on Android, iOS, and the web browser of any computer or mobile device.

This page provides an overview of the basic functions of mWater Surveyor. It includes a video tutorial, downloadable materials, and a detailed description of each function in the app.

Search mWater on the Google Play Store.
Choose mWater.
Press Install.

Press Accept to allow the app to access required phone functions. Then press Open once the download is complete.

Note that the minimum Android version as of 11/2020 is Lollipop 5.1 or above. This means that any device from 2014 onwards should be compatible.

Open the mWater Surveyor
Click on Create an account
Enter your Name, Username, Email Address, and a secret Password.

Your username is how you will be referred to throughout the system.
Choose something that includes your real name so team members will know you
Avoid generic usernames such as Enumerator01, etc

Please check that your email address is correct before creating an account.

Click on Login using Google
Enter your Google (gmail) email address and password.
Click on Allow
Your gmail name and username will be filled in and an mWater Username will be suggested

You can change the suggested username - mWater will check if it is available.

You can log in with either your username or the email address on your account.

⁠Enter your username/email and password
Press the Login button
Select a configuration for the app. Custom configurations are created to streamline the app for a specific organization or use-case. The majority of users will be using the Standard User configuration.
If you are part of an organization, your survey administrator may provide you with a unique code, which will automatically add your username to their organization.

Notes:

YOU MUST BE ONLINE TO LOG IN
The app is always checking for updates. Sometimes you might be asked to restart if a new version is available. Always press OK .
Even if you close the app or restart the phone, you will stay logged in.

When you first log in using your email, you will be asked to confirm the email you used to create the account.

This will be shown in a yellow notification on your home page.
Go to your email and look for a new mail titled "Email Confirmation." Click the link provided.
After confirming, you should no longer see the yellow notification on the home page.

To reset your password:

Enter your Username or the Email you signed up with
Press Forgot Password
Press OK
Go to your email account and check your inbox for an email from mWater. Open the email.
Click the blue text "this link"
Enter and confirm your new password. Press the Reset password button.
Return to mWater Surveyor app and use your new password.

Open the app and click on Settings
Click on My Account
Select the item that you'd like to change to modify it

Note: In order to change your password through this interface you must enter your current password. If you have forgotten your current password please use the steps in the section above called "Resetting your password"

Survey forms and responses are always kept in sync when online

The app must be open for sync to work
Sync status can be found by clicking Cache on the Home screen

Press Sync Now before going offline to make sure forms are up to date

You can open the mWater Surveyor on non-Android devices by going to:

https://portal.mWater.co or https://portal.solsticeinstitute.com

mWater recommends using the Chrome web browser.
The app will work offline as long as you don't close the window.
You can have the app open on multiple devices at one time.

When using mWater in a web browser, make sure your laptop's GPS is enabled.

Pressing on the buttons at the bottom take you to that page
Press Add to create a site or start a survey, or press the task buttons in the middle of the page.

Touch a survey in the list to open
Draft surveys are responses that have been started but not yet submitted.
All drafts are synced while online
Rejected surveys were submitted but then rejected by an approver. Make revisions and re-submit.
Recently completed surveys have been submitted.

The Map shows Sites, which are unique locations that we want to track over time, such as water points, schools, communities, clinics, etc.

The List is joined to the map and displays sites that are closest to the center of the current map view.

Press +Add to create a new site.
Zoom in or out with -/+
Select a site to see more information on the site.
Press the crosshairs to zoom to your current GPS position.

1) Click on the Settings menu
2) This will display information, settings, functions like:

a) Sync – Displays the current sync status and app version that is being used

b) Report a problem – Use this button for contacting mWater staff about a technical bug with the app

c) Language selector – Choose from 18 languages to translate the app into*

d) Check for updates – Clicking this button will check for new versions of the app, automatically download it, and relaunch the application

e) Logout – This button will log the user out of their account and return to the mWater Login page
*While the app is already translated into 18 languages, individual survey forms are managed by their administrator, who must translate the form text itself.

Report a Problem sends a message to mWater engineers with detailed information.

Please remember to include:

1. What you were doing that made the problem happen.

2. What you expected to see.

3. What you saw instead.

4. Tell us a little more about you so we can help you better:

Where are you working?

What organization or government are you working with?

Who is your survey administrator?

Groups or Organizations are created and managed in the mWater Portal. Users can be added to an Organizations by Administrators via the Manage>Organizations tab of the mWater Portal. For users to add themselves to an organization they must enter the Invitation code for the organization in the Manage Groups page of the Settings tab in the mWater Surveyor app (Please see the diagram on the right).

In order to generate an Invitation Code for an organization, the administrator must use the Manage>Organizations page of the mWater Portal.

Click the branch you want to create an access code for.
Click the settings tab.
Click create access code.
Copy the Access Code
Distribute the Access Code to enumerators

This function is especially useful when managing a large number of enumerators during initial setup or training. Once users have created their accounts they can directly add themselves to the organizational branch provided.

Language changes the language of the app pages and controls. Each survey can have its own translations. These can be changed separately in the survey form.

In order to switch languages in the app:

Navigate to Settings and select the drop-down menu under Language.
Select your desired language e.g. Español
Press done, and the app will translate its text to the language you have selected.

The Check for Updates button will update the app to the most recent version available. This allows for new functions and bug fixes to be rolled out to all users by mWater. This is not the same as synchronizing the app, which simply uploads and downloads data from the device to the cloud and visa versa. Internet access is required to update the app. The app will restart upon completion of the update.

In order to update the app:

When online, press Check for Updates.
If an update is available the Status will change to Updating...Wait until the the Update is complete.
Press OK anytime that a new version is available. The app will restart and now run the new version of the app.

On devices running iOS or iPadOS such as iPhones or iPads, there is no Check for Updates button. Instead, users must force close the app as shown, and then reopen it. When opened, the app will automatically check for updates and update if a newer version is available.

What Are Sites?

Sites are places that users can monitor over time
mWater automatically assigns every site a Unique ID
Each site gets its own page in mWater
Surveys can be attached to sites if they contain a site question
Sites display basic information and any surveys that have been done on them
Sites can be connected up to in order to see the relationship between them (e.g. Water system>Water point, Community->Sanitation facility, etc)

Share link - Users can share the site page via Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, or link
Edit - For users within the organization which manages the site data are an Edit button will allow them to modify/delete the site
Core data fields - Includes Name, description, unique ID, location, type, etc.
Functionality - History and quick update of the functional status
Actions - Create a survey response or issue related to the site. This will open a new survey response and pre-fill the Site ID in the site question.
Data history - A history of all survey responses conducted on the site. Only those surveys for which the user has view permissions will show in the list. Clicking the response will provide the full survey details.

To create a new site:
1) Click +Add a Site from either:
a) The Map page
b) The +Add menu
2) Select the site Type
3) Fill in the core site information and press Create.

There are three ways to set GPS Coordinates.

1. Press Current Location to automatically set using the device's GPS.

mWater will try for 10 seconds to get a better GPS signal
Press Use anyway to accept the current level of accuracy

2. Use map to set the GPS by placing an icon on the map. When the icon is placed correctly click Set Coordinates Here.
3. Edit allows coordinates to be typed in. Please ensure that only Coordinates in Decimal Degrees are entered.

The coordinates registered will display below the Location section.

Sites can have three levels of privacy:

Private - Only the organization that manages the site can see it and modify it.
Protected - Anyone can see the site but only the organization that manages the site can edit the basic information (name, location, etc.)
Public - Anyone can see, edit, and delete the site information ("crowdsourcing")

Users can locate the closest site to their current location by going to the Map tab and selecting the target icon shown to the right. The nearest site will then be displayed at the top of the list of sites.

Type in the Search box to find sites by name, Unique ID, or location
Open the Gear menu to filter sites by who manages them or by type
The list at the bottom of the page will update based on the Sites shown on the map. The closest site will appear first.

To update an existing site:

Use the Edit button to change the basic site information. You can only edit sites if you or your group manages them.
Use update status to quickly add the functional status or other key indicators to the site
You can add new surveys under Actions
You can view past surveys attached to the site at the bottom of the site page

Surveys that contain site questions can be attached to sites

Press the Select button to see a map and list of sites
Once you find the site, press Select and you will be returned to the form with the site data filled in
Verify that the site shown is the correct one.

Surveys started from Site Pages will have the site question automatically filled in

a) Site data - The sites which can be displayed on a map.

b) Map tiles - The basemap images which show things like roads, place names, rivers, etc. Saving this data offline use much more data than sites.

Click on the Gear menu
Select Make Available Offline. All sites currently visible on the map will be saved to the device.
If you would like to save the map tiles*, click the OK button.
A message will appear informing you of the size of the map data. Click OK again to continue with the download.
A progress bar will appear at the top of the page and inform you when the download is complete

Get the Latest Forms

Always press Sync now on the Home page to make sure you have the latest version of every survey
You do not need to search for forms deployed to you - they will be automatically downloaded

1) There are various ways to start a survey:

a) From the Home page, press Start a Survey

b) From the +Add tab, press Start a Survey

c) From the Tasks menu, press Start a Survey

d) From any site page, press Start a Survey*

2) Choose the survey from the list.

Notes:

All surveys deployed to this user or any of the groups/organizations that they are within will appear in the list. Surveys are deployed by survey administrators via the mWater Portal. There are several mWater Standard Surveys that can also be used.

Text – Enter text using the keyboard. Some text questions have multiple lines or may only accept certain formats like an email address
Date/time – Press the calendar to pick a date and time from a calendar. Use the arrows to navigate right and left on the calendar. Alternatively, dates can be entered in manually in the data entry box.
Number questions - Select the keyboard to enter numerical data. Some questions are set to only accept decimal or whole numbers.
Units questions – Enter a number and choose the corresponding unit

Radio question – Choose one option from a list. This is best for options that have a short list of questions (<5)
Dropdown question – Choose one option from a dropdown list. This is best for questions that have a long list of options (>5)
Multi-check – Choose multiple options from a list.
Checkbox – Select or deselect a single box for True/false
Image(s) – Use the camera or gallery to take one or more photo

Matrix question – Allows users to enter data in a table format. Each column in the table can be a different question type. Used for tables with a known/fixed structure.
Roster matrix – Allows users to add rows to a table and enter data for each row. Used for tables where there may be any number of rows. Used for <6 questions per row (due to the table’s width).
Roster group – Allows users to add a question group for each item, instead of a table row. Used for groups with many questions per row.

Note: Use the +Add button to add a line or question group to a Roster

Instructions – Used for providing the enumerator with information that they need to complete the survey response.
Text list – Allows enumerators to add as many items as they need to a text list.
Stopwatch – Allows the enumerator to measure the amount of time using a stopwatch.
Aquagenx Compartment Bag Test (CBT) – This question is specially designed to register CBT E. Coli water quality tests and automatically calculate the concentration and risk level

Question help – Click on the ? icon to see more information about the question.
Other (Please specify) – Selecting this option will show a text box below to type in an option that is not in the list.
Don’t know, Not applicable – This option is used when the enumerator or respondent does not know the answer to a question or it isn’t applicable to the situation.

To save a draft manually:

1) Press Save for Later at the bottom of any page

2) Some surveys will ask you to name the draft. If you do not enter one it will be called Untitled.

To open an existing draft:

a) Select the Tasks menu

b) Select the survey response from the Draft Surveys section

Note: Please check before deleting surveys, as they cannot be retrieved.

To delete a survey response:

Click on Discard at the bottom of any page of a survey response
Select OK from the popup

WARNING: Deleting a survey cannot be undone!

Data upload includes form responses - mWater always syncs this data first
Image upload - photos are synced after survey responses
Cache Sync - downloads updated data from mWater servers to your device

Make sure sync is complete before working offline. Offline sync happens automatically every 20 minutes, and when you open the app.

If something unexpected happens, first try to go to Settings and Report a problem

Check your email as mWater staff may be trying to ask further questions
Check for updates - mWater often fixes problems in less than 24 hours

Minor problems can often be resolved by Force-closing the app and then opening it again

You may also find the solution to your problem on mWater's app troubleshooting page.

Common causes of GPS issues are:

Poor signal due to obstructions like buildings or trees (see diagram at right)
The GPS is turned off
High accuracy mode is turned off
The Surveyor app does not have permission to use the GPS
Google Maps hasn’t been updated or initialized

Note: Computers or laptops do not have a GPS chip or antenna.

First check your Android location settings:

Go to Settings
Then go to Location

Make sure Location mode is set to High Accuracy

> GPS signals can be blocked by buildings, trees, or hills. GPS is not affected by clouds or rain.

If you are experiencing issues with GPS, you may find the solution to your problem on mWater's GPS troubleshooting page.

Consider purchasing a case to protect from drops
Keep phone away from water and heavy rain
If the phone is dropped in water, try removing the back cover and placing the phone in a bag of rice for several days

The mWater app normally uses a very small amount of data
Apps that show photos and videos use up data very quickly
Check the Data Usage page in your Android Settings to find out which apps are using the most data

App overview

Video tutorial

Resources

Slides

Getting started

Changing your email, password, username, etc

App screens and settings

Creating and updating sites

Conducting surveys

Troubleshooting tips