Collaboration is the key to improving a handpump. Working with others is essential. Often called “Human Centered Design” or HCD, the process of creating change involves a range of important factors: a full understanding the real need and the people involved comes first. Then designs that can be appropriately built, tested, iterated and improved, scaled and sourced locally in-country form the longer chain of successful HCD. Doxa Research supplements and supports the work of other organizations seeking to mechanically improve pumps and break the status quo of accepting failures as normative. As many as 30% of handpumps in Africa do not work, today. Change is needed. Read more about pumps in general, here at the RWSN

Collecting pump data remotely is a an economical and technical challenge. Is cell technology in the area, or is some other method needed? If collected, how is that data viewed? Doxa Research fills in an important data collection and data distribution gap here.

They make satellite-based monitoring devices to bolt on the Afridev, IM2 and solar pumps with flow meters. Development of a Bush Pump monitor is in progress. GSM technology is also in development to extend solution capacity. We’d be happy to show you other organizations solving this challenge too.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has also been trialed for certain scenarios of pump data collection. This method of capturing one picture per reading keeps data costs very low where pump technicians are already visiting pump sites on a regular basis. It also provides an accurate record of pump use that is not open to errors in reporting or manipulation of data (which can occur when payment for water services are involved).

The data path back to those in need of that information is short and customized. Doxa Research can supply you with monitoring devices. Doxa Research can also teach you how to build your own apps. You can generate your own apps using AI (yes, a reality in 2023), but Doxa Research suggests learning the platform first, so that you can modify apps with understanding. The app service usually costs as little as US$1 per user per month. Creating a change in how you gather data and view that data can be economical.

Latrines are not the glamorous side of the WASH cycle, yet they do play an essential part. Read how latrines change lives. The WASH cycle is completed when clean water is reliably sourced, used and then human waste disposed of. It is easy to contaminate your own water supply in a village, unwittingly making a clean aquifer and good pump dangerous. Clean latrines are a crucial component of a overall health for a school or village. Doxa Research has a proven product called Doxa Kleen designed to create a significant change in latrine health. Change that lasts.