Water on Tap
Malawi innovator develops an intelligent tap that improves life in rural areas
Catherine Tembo has no water in her house and heads off to the nearby kiosk with her bucket where she decides to get 10 liters. Tembo swipes her smartcard on the intelligent tap machine which dispenses the exact amount.
“It is cheaper [and much more convenient] compared to what we are used to do,” Tembo said, as she heads back to her rural home in the Central Region District of Lilongwe in Malawi.
24/7 affordable water
A visit to several kiosks in the district shows how excited women are with the use of smartcards to draw water. Funny Kananji from the traditional authority of Chimutu in Lilongwe said before smartcards came into use, they were spending a lot on water.
“Previously, when we drew water, we were charged per bucket. But with the smartcards, we pay half the price for the same amount of water [and can choose exactly how much water we want, anytime we want]. This leaves us with some money over to buy other necessities,” said Kananji.
Another smartcard user Beatrice Gomani agrees the hi-tech system is convenient and fast to use.
“Previously, for example, when you woke up early to draw water, you would have to wait for the kiosk attendant to arrive, as you could only draw the water when they were there to supervise transactions. We sometimes had situations when the attendant left to attend to urgent family matters [and so we couldn’t get water that day].
“But with the smartcard, there is no need for supervision as you draw water according to your need. It is an innovation that has helped us [a lot] in rural areas,” said Gomani.
Former water kiosk attendant at Kawale Village in the district Ernestina Kadango said what impresses her about the new machine is the lack of water wastage.
“With this smartcard, you account for any water that is used,” said Kadango, confirming
that the charge for water is much cheaper than the previous system.
Malawi innovation
The brainchild behind the new water collection source is Malawian Mayamiko Nkoloma, who calls his invention itap (intelligent tap).
“itap is an automated water vending machine that dispenses potable water by swiping a credited card that is loaded with monetary value on a recharge unit. This enables the user to access the preferred value and amount of money [required]. It serves lower income or rural communities in Malawi,” said Nkoloma, who plans to roll the taps out countrywide. The itap system, according to him, is easy to calculate and people get the exact amount of water required, with no wastage.
itap can be installed in small or large water schemes in both urban and rural settings
“With this innovation, people will now be able to use their mobile money wallets to recharge their water smartcards, [while] at the same time water supply companies will be able to track their revenue from these kiosks through the Internet,” said Nkoloma.
His love for all things hi-tech took him to the Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, where he studied Electrical Engineering after high-school.
He then furthered his studies in India, where he got his Master’s Degree in Information Technology, after which he spent time in England, achieving his second Master’s Degree in Wireless Communication at Sheffield University.
“It was while I was in India that I started dreaming about some of these [innovative] things. I worked on a project to do with remote monitoring of solar photovoltaics plant installations, and the results encouraged me [to try more innovations],” he said.
Nkoloma, who now lectures at the Polytechnic in the University of Malawi where he got his first degree, has since established a company called imosys in order to advance his dreams.
According to him, imosys was established with the aim of harnessing information and communications technology (ICT) to assist in the development of Malawi and other developing countries. His company provides software, hardware and engineering services to enable connectivity for remote monitoring of industrial processes, infrastructure and environmental aspects.
“imosys [services] are offered to industries, institutions and individuals to assist in reducing processes running costs, improve productivity, reveal inefficiencies in supply chains and reinforce decision-making through provision of timely information on performance reports, application in remote monitoring, alarms and alerts and data collection,” said Nkoloma.
Beyond itap
As a way of increasing the spread of technology in Malawi, imosys has expanded its capacity by providing ICT solutions to six areas: namely energy, water, health, education, industrialization and agriculture.
Regarding water, the company has established a low cost, remote monitoring and data capturing tool that provides data on water levels, water flow rates in distribution pipe networks and water quality in terms of PH, chlorine and turbidity levels, as well as itap.
“The system uses solar energy to power up remote units and battery banks to avoid downtimes. Phone cards are used to access SMS and Internet services that are used to send alerts on system flaws to supervisor’s mobile gadgets for their immediate actions.
“This Web-based water management system for water utility companies has a lot of benefits, including real time data generation, which is accessible anytime anywhere. The system can also quickly generate analytics on required reports and monitor water levels, flow rates and quality through system alerts,” he said.
According to Nkoloma, imosys has also created and provided a state-of-the-art e-healthcare system to Malawi’s National TB Control Program under the Ministry of Health, to be used in health facilities across the country in order to improve delivery of healthcare and strengthen regional capacity in management of TB and other occupational diseases.
“The system provides data on potential TB patients through handling of sputum samples and testing of sample in laboratories. The details of the patient and sample details are scanned to the system through application on a tablet or mobile gadget. This data is accessible to hospital staff and community volunteers on a computer or mobile gadget and most communication with patient is through SMS,” said Nkoloma.
And now during these pandemic days, imosys is also involved in the fight against COVID-19. The company produces face shields and supplies these to public healthcare providers and some primary schools.
“All I want is to advance technology so that our economy can grow,” said Nkoloma. CA