mWater allows you to import new monitoring sites from data contained in Excel or CSV files using the Import function on the Manage Sites page. The user friendly import tool allows you to match up columns from your data to the fields defined for that type of site.
About sites
Sites are any location or facility that you want to monitor over time. In order to standardize data collection and make it easy to share and collaborate, mWater only offers fixed types of sites; these include water points, communities, health facilities, schools, and many others. We also work with our partners and clients to develop new site types or custom site fields, so new types are added all the time. Sites are the foundation of mWater's unique ability to monitor changes over time, allowing you to attach a new survey to a site and then view all the previous surveys done there from the site page.
Sites are like fixed sign posts that we attach updates to in the form of surveys
Sites have properties that contain the different data about the site. You cannot create new properties unless you work with mWater directly. We find it is best to keep the number of site properties to a minimum. For example, something like the number of water point users is expected to change over time, so this is better collected in a survey that can be periodically performed at the site. When you create graphs or tables of your data, mWater will help you by suggesting that you use the latest value for an survey that is done repeatedly at the site.
You can update the properties of a site and even change its geographic location as often as needed. This will not affect the surveys that you have attached to the site. All changes are stored in the site history and managers of a site can revert back to a previous version if needed.
Importing new sites
Importing is done in the Sites page of the portal. It is helpful for you to do as much cleaning as possible prior to importing data, however the import tool allows you to easily match up your data fields to the standard choices available. For example, don't worry if Borehole is spelled three different ways! You can connect all three spellings to the Borehole choice in the site property.
Prepare your data
Data can be imported from either Microsoft Excel workbooks or CSV (Comma separated values) files. Make sure that you have done at least the following:
Put GPS coordinates into decimal degrees and using the WGS84 spatial reference system. If you collected data using a smartphone GPS, your data will already be in this format so don't worry.
Make sure your data has only one row for the column names. Delete any extra rows or spaces above the data.
Ensure that the first tab in an Excel sheet is the one you want to import. mWater will automatically choose the first tab if there are more than one.
If you plan to import both site data and then survey data linked to those sites (this is an advanced procedure!), make sure that your data includes a column that has unique numbers (1,2,3... is fine) for each site and give that column the title "Import code". This will allow you to link up the site IDs that mWater assigns to the remaining survey data later.
Note: If you are working as part of an organization or team, we strongly recommend you create an Organization (go to Manage>Organizations) before starting the import process.
Start the import process
Click on Sites in the navbar and then open the Sites page from the dropdown.
Select Import from the navbar, then choose the site type that you want to import from the Site type to import dropdown.
Drag the file containing your site data into the popup window or click on the box to select the file from your computer.
mWater should inform you that your file has been successfully loaded. If any errors were found in the file, correct them in the original file, save it, and then repeat these steps.
Selecting a file to import
Map columns and answer choices
After successfully uploading the file, you now need to tell mWater which columns in your data go with the properties that mWater has defined for that type of site. When the site property is a choice list (such as type of water point), the import tool will analyze all of the answers in your data column to find out every unique value. For each response, you will be able to specify which answer choice goes with each of your data values. This allows you to easily clean up text fields where many different spellings of the same answer were used.
1. After successfully uploading your file, click Next.
NOTE: On the Map import file columns screen, you will see your data fields (each column name) on the left side and on the right side you will select the mWater site property that your field will go into.
Some fields will be recognized by mWater and pre-filled, especially if your GPS data is labeled "lat" and "lon" or if your field uses the exact same name as the mWater property.
You don't have to map every field. Any field you don't map will be ignored.
Once you select an mWater property on the right that has a fixed list of choices, the field expands to show all of the possible mWater choices for that property. More about this in the next steps.
Mapping your data fields (on the left) to mWater site properties (on the right).
2. Map each of your fields on the left that you want to upload to an mWater property on the right by using the dropdown menus (any field you leave blank will be ignored).
3. For mWater properties that have fixed lists of answer choices, you will be asked to map each of your answer choices to one of the mWater answer choices.
Mapping the answer choices in your data (left side) to the related mWater property choice (right side).
Add privacy settings and dataset name
1. From the Map import file columns page, click Next.
2. Choose a privacy setting for the imported sites
mWater recommends using Protected for public institutions or services; this means anyone can view the basic site data (but not your surveys) but only your organization can change the data.
Use Private when the data is sensitive or contains personal identifying information, such as household data. This means that only members of your organization can view the site.
Use Public if you do not intend to manage the site data but want to contribute to the global database of sites. Any user can update public sites.
Visit our Data Security page to learn more about privacy and security in mWater, including detailed explanations of these permission settings.
Setting the privacy level, managed by organization, and dataset
3. Select the organization or user that will manage the site data
If you don't already have an organization set up, we recommend you create one now (you will have to cancel and reproduce the steps above). It's free and easy to do, and helps you to manage your users and data more effectively.
Anyone in the Managed By organization can make changes to the site properties and location. All changes are tracked and can be viewed in the Sites page.
Do not select your own username for Managed By if you are working on a team; choose your Organization instead.
4. Type a Dataset name for this import. Use a descriptive name that will help you identify this group of sites and the source of the data in the future. Creating a dataset will allow you to perform bulk operations on the sites from the Manage tab, such as deleting or changing permissions.
Preview and finish the import
1. Click on Preview to view the data that will be imported. If there are any problems with the new site data, you can click on Cancel to restart the process -- no new sites will be created if you cancel.
2. Click on Finish to create the new sites. This can take a while for large files.
3. Once the import is done you will see a popup indicating that the import was sucessful. Click OK.
Previewing site data and finishing the import process
Viewing and editing imported sites
Once an import is successful, you will be returned to the Manage Sites page. From here, you can export the new site data, make bulk edits like deleting or changing permissions, and use our advanced cleaning tools such as the site Deduplicator.
Downloading site data
NOTE: If you just imported site data, click on the Refresh button in your web browser to reload the page. This will refresh the dataset list to include the one you just created.
Select the Dataset you created during site import using the Dataset dropdown in the panel on the right side of the page. This will filter the sites you see on the map to just the imported ones.
If the map does not show all of the sites, change the Map Filter to All Items.
Click on Exportand choose one of the following options:
Columns in list will download only the site properties shown in the list view below the map. You can change which columns are included by clicking on the gear icon at the end of the last column.
All Columns will download a file with all the properties that have a value listed in your dataset.
