@INPROCEEDINGS{Voth2209:Community,
AUTHOR="Andy {Florian Irakoze} and Flavio Esposito and Andrew Schranck and Lee
Voth-Gaeddert",
TITLE="A Community Water System Mapping {(CWSMap)} Platform for Supporting Rural
Water Operators",
BOOKTITLE="2022 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) (GHTC 2022)",
ADDRESS="Santa Clara, USA",
DAYS="8",
MONTH=sep,
YEAR=2022,
KEYWORDS="user-centered design; water resource management; digital water system",
ABSTRACT="Community water systems (CWSs) are critical for any community, but optimal
management can be difficult. External pressures such as climate change and
internal pressures such as a lack of finance or training can significantly
affect the operation and maintenance of CWSs in low-resource settings. In
addition, millions of CWSs remain unmapped and unanalyzed due to a lack of
targeted digital technologies. While higher-income urban utilities can
transition into a digital water system ecosystem, many marginalized
communities are left behind. CWSMap aims to solve this problem by providing
a simple, low-cost digital platform to map, analyze, and manage CWSs
targeting volunteers and informally trained water operators. Water
operators often face questions around over/under pressurization and flow
rates, network expansion, water treatment installations, and maintenance
prioritization. CWSMap can help democratize access to advanced digital
technologies in marginalized communities to solve pressing local
challenges."
}