Any asset system data you collect and have visibility over can be brought into dashboards, maps, datagrids and consoles for visualization and analysis. In this guide we'll cover how to create a basic dashboard based on your asset system data.
You can then build the analytics you need to highlight data that you've collected.
Asset Systems are their own data source separate from Sites and Surveys. So the first step in creating your dashboard is to create a widget such as a table or chart and pick the correct Asset System as the data source. By default this will be the Standard Water Asset System.
Create a widget and select the relevant asset system
All assets are part of the same database table structure. So when you view the asset system data source, you will see many sections, including one for each asset type. It's a good idea to get familiar with this structure as this covers all the fields that are available in assets.
At the bottom of the asset system data source there are some special sections: Parent Asset, Root Asset, Admins, Viewers, Water Point Entity and Water System Entity. These can help you filter your data.
The Root Asset is the topmost asset of a hierarchy, so either a water system or a water point.
The asset system table contains data for all asset types
The Water Point Entity and Water System Entity sections refer to the Sites that are kept alongside Water System and Water Point assets. For each water point site there's also a water point asset, and the same for systems. Other asset types don't exist as sites.
In case you want to limit the dashboard to just one water system or only water systems managed by your organization, you can apply a dashboard level filter once you've brought in the data source.
One effective way to do this is to set a filter on the Root Asset > Name to the water system you are interested in.
Or you can create a quick filter that allows you to switch between water systems. This is a bit more complex, and one way to do it is to create an If/Then statement for when Root Asset > Type is Water System to then display the Name in the quick filter.
Steps to recreate: First select Root Asset > Advanced, then select the If/Then expression. For the first condition set the Type to be Water System and the result to be Name. The else part of the expression can be left blank.
A quickfilter to select water systems
The quickfilter shows only system names and not a list of all assets
Building a Table of Asset Details
Tables will be an effective way for you to display key data about the assets you are most interested in. A good way to start is to create a separate table for separate asset types you are interested and pick the columns you want to display.
The steps are:
1. Create a Table Widget
2. Select the relevant asset system as the data source and filter it if necessary, for example down to a specific asset type
3. Pick the columns you want to display
4. (Optional) Order the table
If you want to summarize or aggregate information in a table, please use the Pivot Table widget instead.
Working through an example for valves:
Creating a table of valve data
Building a Chart of Asset Functionality
Charts can be useful for example to highlight asset status or condition. Charts in mWater are interactive, so you can use a well-designed chart to help analysis. For example you can create a pie chart that shows assets by functionality, and then filter all the widgets to only show non-functional assets by clicking that chart.
Steps to create an asset status pie chart:
1. Create a chart widget in your dashboard
2. Set the type to Pie and select the asset system data source
3. Set the Label Axis by selecting the Status field from the Status and condition section
4. (Optional) Deselect the None option to hide blank entries, or apply a Filter to narrow the chart down to only relevant asset types that you expect to have a filled in Status
5. (Optional) Set the colours and formatting
Working through an example:
Creating a status pie chart
Building a Water System Map
You can put all or part of your water systems on a map, and can add any amount of layers to a map widget. This data is linked to any other widgets you create, so you can filter the map with a quickfilter or by interacting with other linked widgets.
To create a basic map layer showing all asset components and colouring them by type, follow these steps:
1. Create a map widget and edit it from the cogwheel
2. Select the asset system as a data source. You can do this by selecting the Markers and Shapefiles option, for example.
3. Set the Location field from the Location section
4. Select Basic info > Type for the Color by data option
5. (Optional) Adjust asset colors and layer options
6. (Optional) Set the map to autozoom from the Options tab
Working through an example:
Creating a map of all system assets
You can overlay other map layers, add custom popups, and do much more with maps in mWater.
These examples can get you started in using your asset system data in data analysis. The key concept to keep in mind is that if you've collected the data, you will be able to display it too.
Finally, if you ever want to export your asset system data, create a Datagrid with the relevant columns, save it and you'll be able to download the data as a CSV, spreadsheet or GeoJSON file.
Further resources
You can learn more about creating analytics in mWater by:
