Designing a
Water Maintenance App
Increasing access to safe water in rural areas in Kenya
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Estimated number of people/month provided with affordable clean drinking water by the end of 2026:
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The Challenge
In Kenya, many water systems are mechanical and will eventually break down if not regularly maintained.
30-40% of the installed water supply systems in Kenya are broken, and more than 1 out of 3 people still consume water from unprotected sources.
WaterStarters, a social enterprise focused on improving access to clean water in developing countries, supports franchisees (community-based organisations and entrepreneurs) to sustainably and independently run their climate-smart water supply solutions to guarantee water availability all year round.
To reach a target of 1.5 million people through 600 water schemes, WaterStarters needed a tool built for and from a franchisee’s perspective to support and guide them in performing timely and proper maintenance on the water systems.
The Innovation
The Design for Good team created a mobile tool to help local entrepreneurs in Kenya plan and execute maintenance and record information for new water scheme businesses that increase access to safe water in rural areas.
Offline access
Since many water systems are located in remote areas where there is no internet connection, push notifications are stored within the app so that the franchisee or operations and maintenance officers can still access information about what tasks need to be completed or how to fix an issue. The user can also upload pictures and data whilst offline. When coming into an area with internet connection, data is automatically uploaded.
Built by partner Rubico and Upande (the overall water system enterprise resource planning and remote sensing provider), the WaterStarters Maintenance App was first prototyped with a franchisee in Kibiko, Kajiado County, Kenya, a community of over 5,000 people.
The app officially launched in August 2025 and is now live on the Google Play Store.
A mobile application for franchisees
Design for Good jointly developed with WaterStarters a tool built from the franchisees’ perspective to support and guide them in performing maintenance on their own water systems, while at the same time allowing WaterStarters to track performance across all the schemes.
Our team designed a mobile application that aids different types of franchisees – such as local businesses, entrepreneurs or water committees – in running their systems more effectively and reducing the risk of system breakdowns
Maintenance tasks
For the water systems to run efficiently and not break down, maintenance tasks need to be carried out on site, such as inspecting pipes, seals, leaks and other regular checks. The app allows users to record information during water scheme maintenance checks and provides a guide to follow if an issue arises. Franchisees can upload images and add voice and text data on a location directly onto the app, and Waterstarters can access any necessary data for compliance checking.
The Results
We are still tracking the results of this project – check back later for future updates!
Help us make a difference
All our projects are open-source. Go ahead and use them to do good.