mWater Field Test Kit

Target SDGs

Market Suggested Retail Price

$200.00

Target Users (Target Impact Group)

Public Sector Agencies, NGOs

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

This product has been implemented by several humanitarian organizations like USAID DIV, The World Bank Innovation Fund, Water.org, WaterAid International, WaterAid Australia, Millennium Water Alliance, The Water Trust, charity: water, The Water Project, Riverkeeper, Earth Echo, Safe Water Network, UNC Water Institute, Ugandan Water Project, Water4.org, Drink Local Drink Tap, Wine to Water, Haiti Outreach, UNICEF, WHO, Water4, MSF, GAIN, and UN-HABITAT.

Competitive Landscape

Direct competitors include 3M™ Petrifilm™ Aqua Coliform Count Plates.

Manufacturing/Building Method

Unknown

Intellectural Property Type

Trade Secret

User Provision Model

This product is available for purchase from mWater and also through partner humanitarian organizations .

Distributions to Date Status

As of 2020, this product had over +40,000 active users (including NGOs, government, and researchers).

Design Specifications

mWater test kits are simple and portable water testing kits utilized for testing a variety of water parameters such as E. coli 1 mL and 100 mL, coliform bacteria, nitrate/nitrite, and residual chlorine. The tests are designed to be easily used and operated, without the need for a full-fledged laboratory and just at room temperature. All the materials in the test kit are pre-sterilized and are discarded after one-time use. Overall the Kit contains a whirl pak- standup bag with a HiMedia Ecoli reagent, Nissui compact dry EC plate with a gel reagent, and ITS waterworks test strips. For the bacterial confirmation test, users can either use the stand-up bag or the dry EC plate to detect the presence or absence of E.Coli. Similarly, ITS waterworks test strips are used for detection of Nitrate up to (0-50 mg/L), Nitrite up to (0-10 mg/L), and residual chlorine up to (0-5 mg/L). The results are calculated within a few seconds for Nitrate, Nitrite, and residual chlorine i.e. after 60 and 25 seconds. Whereas for the bacterial tests, results are obtained after 24 hours. Detailed instructions are available on the company’s website.

Product Schematics

Technical Support

Manual and guides are provided by the manufacturer.

Replacement Components

None

Lifecycle

Single-use product (disposal guidance unknown)

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

This water test kit was designed to be used without the need for any laboratory or extra equipment like an incubator. Moreover, it was designed in a way that anyone without prior knowledge of water testing could also use it.

Vetted Performance Status

Since 2014, mWater services have been used by WaterAid, with more than 1,700 users and an increasing number of partners adopting it independently. Some examples of mWater’s use through WaterAid programs are Rwanda school baseline, Mozambique Post Implementation Monitoring Surveys, and Bugesera district water services monitoring.

Safety

Unknown

Complementary Technical Systems

Users can use the mWater mobile app as a complementary system for this product to map water sources.

Academic Research and References

Compliance with regulations

The kit’s testing levels comply with World Health Organization guidelines for safe drinking water.

Evaluation methods

User testing with surveys.

Other Information

Video of the company. Schematics developed by mWater