Organizational questions:

1. How is Doxa Research funded? Through donations primarily and product sales a very distant second.

2. What are your financial needs and current shortfalls? The major financial need is to donations to cover wages in Africa, and the work associated with their travel, vehicles and other operational costs. Sales of products do not cover these costs (and probably never will).

3. Who do you work with? As explained in “About”, we cast a wide net, given the huge scope of WASH challenges. No single organization can tackle the WASH problems alone, so we like to come alongside when needed, to help. We recommend reading the philosophy of our partnerships in the book by Peter Greer called Rooting for Rivals.

4. What is your governance and board structure? Being a new and small 501(c)3, Doxa Research has working board members made up of three people, for now. And there has not been a full financial year yet, to generate an annual report from.

Product and Service questions:

1. Who can purchase pump parts, monitors and app services from Doxa Research? Anyone. Please use the contact form for more information, or use the contact information below to directly contact our offices in Uganda or Malawi.

2. Do you offer cell-based technologies?

No, but we do have a GSM system in a prototype phase. That cell version has been tested in the USA, but is not ready for field deployment. It uses SIM7000 technology and connects to a web host via the standard AT+ commands protocols. It is intended to be used on pumps in Malawi by January 2024. We delayed any solution attempt as this space is well covered by organizations such as Charity:Water so we don’t see the need to compete. The goal for Doxa Research is to be complementary, not competitive. Cell technology is an effective technology in some areas, but not all, so we suggest looking at the full range of options. You can read more at this link, Charity:Water Sensors and see how they work. Spec sheets for various versions are available here, Afridev Sensor for more understanding. Their sensors use capacitance and water level for data collection, then send via a SIM9000 GSM module.

3. What alternatives do you have for powering monitors?

Although the Energizer Lithium batteries work superbly well, they can be difficult to source in-country and at the end of the day they are still one-time use and are thrown away when the voltage drops. Contact Doxa Research to see the two other methods used to move beyond one-time batteries. We are about to release a kit set version of a solar pump monitor that uses no batteries. These alternative power systems have been thoroughly tested in the USA.

4. Can your sensors be calibrated?

One question that is common relates to variations in pump performance and the need to calibrate sensors, if needed. Can you calibrate sensors to correct anomalies? The answer is yes. Two methods are available if a discrepancy is noted between pump performance and results. One method is a mechanical modification at the pump. A second and somewhat preferred method is to use the backend software calibration technique. The Python code facilitates individual changes from the raw results, so the output is accurate.