6 Cool Mobile Apps for Water & Wastewater Professionals

In a world where phones are getting smarter every day, it makes sense to put them to work wherever we can.

Our devices are with us 24/7, and with the right apps they can be customized to take over many regular job tasks while on the go. These days there are apps designed to assist in every conceivable function, and the water and wastewater treatment industry is no exception. Smartphones can unchain you from your desk, and eliminate the need to run back to the office every time you need to check measurements or perform calculations.

Mobile apps are often free, but even when they aren’t, the value they provide is usually well worth the investment. You can’t put a price on having everything you need at your fingertips!

Here are a few mobile apps that can transform your smartphone into a personal assistant and increase your efficiency right away….

		1. Water Operations & Compliance
		Developer: National Rural Water Association (NRWA)
		Cost: $2.99
This app was created with both water and wastewater system operators in mind, and includes a host of common treatment facility function calculators.Now you can have calculators for feed pump sizing, pipe disinfection, flow conversion, filtration rates, chlorine demand, detention time and other common water functions right at your fingertips. It also includes an NRWA news feed and access to the NRWA on-line Resource Center.

		2. Wastewater Manager
		Developer: H3 Apps, LLC
		Cost: $8.99
Wastewater Management from H3 Apps is a more robust app designed specifically for wastewater operators/engineers. With more than 75 formulas, it covers wastewater processes such as activated sludge treatment, sludge digestion and production, chlorination and chemical addition, pumping horsepower and efficiency, and even lab procedures.The Wastewater Manager App can be purchased as a web application with an annual subscription of $4.99 per person or as a native app for a one-time fee of $8.99. The web application allows an organization to manage the users of the app through the Organization Admin console on this web site.

		3. SAM-1 Smart Aqua Meter
		Developer: Sensorex
		Cost: Free
The SAM-1 Smart Aqua Meter from Sensorex turns your iPhone or iPad into a powerful and convenient pH, ORP or conductivity and temperature meter (available at www.smartaquameter.com).Simply connect the SAM-1 and smart sensor into the audio jack of your smartphone or tablet and you are ready to take accurate readings. The sensor type and calibration data is auto-recognized. Quickly and easily record reading details such as time, date, and GPS coordinates with location names and comments. Measure samples in the lab, field or plant and share readings instantly via e-mail. You may select one or more readings for export to spreadsheets for analysis or record retention.

		4. Trimble Connect
		Developer: Trimble Navigation
		Cost: Free
Trimble® ConnectTM is a cloud-based, Geographic Information System (GIS)-centric software that includes a suite of applications allowing water, wastewater and stormwater utilities to visualize and manage their network maintenance and data collection activities.Trimble ConnectTM software leverages Trimble’s GNSS and Esri’s GIS technologies to map, locate and assess the condition of critical infrastructure assets, enabling utilities to keep their field infrastructure data up-to-date and accurate. Offered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription, the solution allows users to monitor asset operating conditions, manage leak repairs, reduce non-revenue water, deploy and inspect smart meters, lower potential threats to safety and health due to contamination and adhere to regulators’ reporting guidelines and requirements. GIS-centric solution, enabling water utility personnel to bring GIS and asset information out to the field Eliminates error prone paper and manual data entry Operates online and offline with full access to asset data Provides intelligent data collection forms and workflows using business rules, default values and conditional attributes Captures photos and GPS positions Allows for viewing and tracking work progress from the work list and map Includes configurable street, topo and aerial basemaps

		5. Effective Utility Management
		Developer: National Rural Water Association
		Cost: Free
Another great app from NRWA allows you to get all-in-one insight on the function of your Septic System. Calculate a Septic Pumping Schedule, Size a Septic System, Perform a Septic System Assessment with the features in this app.This app also contains assessment and benchmarking tools designed to assist utilities in effective management and sustainability. These tools work in conjunction with EUM and Sustainability training.

		6. ProTek Water Pro Calculator
		Developer: ProTekMobile
		Cost: $2.99
ProTek Water Pro is a full-featured app for water utility professionals and engineers. It includes disinfection estimators for tanks and pipelines, water Loss for 3 different types of water line breaks (holes, cracks, and circular breaks), flow rates for full pipe open discharge and open channel rectangular weir flow rate.The app also includes calculators for pump power, flow rate, head, and efficiency calculator and all the common water formulas, conversion factors for many common unit conversions in either US or SI units.

Tell us about your favourite water/wastewater apps. Use the comments sections below to nominate an app for our next round up!