Water Point Assessments – USAID Flood Response (Malawi, 2019–2020)

This dataset contains detailed field-level information on the status and functionality of rural water points across Malawi, collected as part of the USAID Flood Response initiative between 2019 and 2020. The data was gathered using the mWater mobile data collection platform, enabling standardized, GPS-tagged assessments directly from field locations.

Each record in the dataset represents a single visit to a water point, capturing both quantitative measurements and qualitative observations. The dataset includes links to photographs, physical infrastructure status, microbiological testing results and site-level comments by enumerators.

Key variables include:

Location and identity of the water point (GPS coordinates, site name)
User estimates (number of people served)
Flood impact indicators (evidence of submersion or erosion)
Pump and structural functionality (operational status, repair needs)
Water quality data (e.g., turbidity, arsenic, nitrate, temperature)
Microbial contamination indicators and associated health risk categories

Use Cases of the Data

This dataset serves as a critical tool for stakeholders involved in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), disaster recovery, and infrastructure management. It supports:

Emergency response planning – identifying flood-affected and non-functional water points
Infrastructure rehabilitation – prioritizing repair of pumps, boreholes, and civil works
Water quality monitoring – detecting contamination risks due to floods or poor maintenance
Health risk assessments – classifying water points based on microbial and chemical testing
WASH program design – guiding resource allocation for future interventions
Research and policy analysis – evaluating resilience and vulnerability of rural water systems

Primary Users of the Dataset

Government agencies (e.g., Malawi Ministry of Water and Sanitation)
Donor organizations and NGOs (e.g., USAID, UNICEF, WaterAid)
WASH engineers and field teams
Public health professionals
Disaster response and recovery planners
Researchers and academics studying water infrastructure, flood resilience, or environmental health

Installation

You can install the development version of floodresponsemw from GitHub with:

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("openwashdata/floodresponsemw")

## Run the following code in console if you don't have the packages
## install.packages(c("dplyr", "knitr", "readr", "stringr", "gt", "kableExtra"))
library(dplyr)
library(knitr)
library(readr)
library(stringr)
library(gt)
library(kableExtra)

Alternatively, you can download the individual datasets as a CSV or XLSX file from the table below.

Click Download CSV. A window opens that displays the CSV in your browser.
Right-click anywhere inside the window and select “Save Page As…”.
Save the file in a folder of your choice.

dataset	CSV	XLSX
floodresponsemw	Download CSV	Download XLSX

Data

The package provides access to field-level assessment data on rural water point infrastructure in Malawi. It was collected as part of the USAID Flood Response program in 2019 - 2020

library(floodresponsemw)

floodresponsemw

The dataset floodresponsemw has 684 observations and 45 variables

floodresponsemw |> 
  head(3) |> 
  gt::gt() |>
  gt::as_raw_html()

submitted_on	water_point_name	latitude	longitude	total_users_of_water_point	water_point_photos	likely_submerged_during_flood	evidence_submerged	evidence_not_submerged	functional_status	pumpable_at_visit	reported_problems	reported_problems_other	water_quality_problems	civil_works_problems	civil_works_photo	pump_problems	pump_problems_other	pump_problems_photo	pump_operational_feel	time_to_pump_20l	strokes_to_yield_water	sediment_presence	electrical_conductivity_magnitude	electrical_conductivity_units	total_dissolved_solids_ppt	ph	fluoride_ppm	ammonia_mg_per_l	nitrate_mg_per_l	free_chlorine_mg_per_l	arsenic_magnitude	arsenic_units	turbidity_magnitude	turbidity_units	temperature_magnitude	temperature_units	temperature_time	comments	sample_type	sample_date	mpn_100ml	upper_95_ci_100ml	health_risk_category	color_change_image
25/06/2019	Beseni borehole	-15.62573	35.51046	100	https://api.mwater.co/v3/images/818741d38e29447c85b4f7dbc1bddfc1	No	NA	Local report not seeing the water point submerged	Not functional	NA	Damage or problem with pump, Soil erosion or collapse around the water point	NA	NA	NA	NA	Other	Pump not working	https://api.mwater.co/v3/images/ebcead6503d54207b9d59ea369d290ab	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	Pump not functioning since April 2019	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
29/11/2019	Beseni borehole	-15.62573	35.51046	452	https://api.mwater.co/v3/images/35b876810db34b45bca096cceb2a00c6; https://api.mwater.co/v3/images/273e5fe4ab0b4bfdb72944cc34c8ea54	No	NA	Local report not seeing the water point submerged	Not functional	NA	Other	Not working	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
02/02/2020	Beseni borehole	-15.62573	35.51046	150	https://api.mwater.co/v3/images/8d94c1061a604251ac5f9d9063248469	Yes	Local report seeing the water point submerged	NA	No longer exists or abandoned	NA	Damage or problem with pump	NA	NA	NA	NA	Other	pump no longer working 2014	https://api.mwater.co/v3/images/3d3d9e436bd6470485ca88c49c78b47b	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

For an overview of the variable names, see the following table.

variable_name	variable_type	description
submitted_on	character	Date when the water point assessment form was submitted.
water_point_name	character	Name or identifier of the water point site.
latitude	numeric	Latitude coordinate of the water point location.
longitude	numeric	Longitude coordinate of the water point location.
total_users_of_water_point	numeric	Number of people currently using the water point.
water_point_photos	character	Photos taken to show the current condition of the water point.
likely_submerged_during_flood	character	Whether the water point was likely submerged during recent flooding (Yes or No).
evidence_submerged	character	Evidence observed that the water point was submerged.
evidence_not_submerged	character	Evidence observed that the water point was not submerged.
functional_status	character	Current operational status of the water point.
pumpable_at_visit	character	Whether water could be pumped during the visit (Yes or No).
reported_problems	character	List of problems reported or observed (e.g., broken parts, contamination).
reported_problems_other	character	Additional problem descriptions not in the predefined list.
water_quality_problems	character	Specific issues related to water quality (e.g., bad smell, taste, turbidity).
civil_works_problems	character	Structural or construction related issues affecting the water point.
civil_works_photo	character	Photo documenting the civil works issue.
pump_problems	character	Mechanical issues related to the pump (e.g., broken handle).
pump_problems_other	character	Additional pump issues not listed in predefined options.
pump_problems_photo	character	Photo documenting the pump issue.
pump_operational_feel	character	Assessors impression of the pumps functionality during operation.
time_to_pump_20l	numeric	Time taken to pump 20 liters of water (in seconds).
strokes_to_yield_water	numeric	Number of strokes required to start yielding water.
sediment_presence	character	Whether visible sediment was present in the water.
electrical_conductivity_magnitude	numeric	Measured electrical conductivity value of the water.
electrical_conductivity_units	character	Units used to measure electrical conductivity (e.g., uS/cm).
total_dissolved_solids_ppt	numeric	Total dissolved solids in parts per thousand (ppt).
ph	numeric	pH level of the water sample.
fluoride_ppm	numeric	Fluoride concentration in parts per million (ppm).
ammonia_mg_per_l	numeric	Ammonia concentration in milligrams per liter (mg/L).
nitrate_mg_per_l	numeric	Nitrate concentration in milligrams per liter (mg/L).
free_chlorine_mg_per_l	numeric	Free chlorine concentration in milligrams per liter (mg/L).
arsenic_magnitude	numeric	Measured value of arsenic in the water.
arsenic_units	character	Units used to measure arsenic concentration.
turbidity_magnitude	numeric	Turbidity level measured using a turbidity tube.
turbidity_units	character	Units used for turbidity measurement (e.g., NTU).
temperature_magnitude	numeric	Temperature of the water sample (numeric value).
temperature_units	character	Units used for temperature (e.g., degree Celcius).
temperature_time	character	Time the temperature was recorded.
comments	character	Additional remarks or observations by the enumerator.
sample_type	character	Type of water sample collected (e.g., raw, treated).
sample_date	character	Date the water sample was taken.
mpn_100ml	numeric	Most probable number (MPN) of bacteria per 100 ml of water.
upper_95_ci_100ml	numeric	Upper 95 percentage confidence interval of MPN per 100 ml.
health_risk_category	character	Risk classification based on MPN results (e.g., low, medium, high).
color_change_image	character	Image showing color change in test compartments used for bacterial analysis.

Data Visualization Example

library(floodresponsemw)
# Required Libraries
library(tidyverse)
library(leaflet)

# Visualization 1: Interactive Water Point Map
# View the spatial distribution, functionality, and usage volume of water points.

# Clean and prepare the data
df_clean <- floodresponsemw %>%
  # Filter out records missing coordinates
  filter(!is.na(latitude), !is.na(longitude)) %>%
  # Assign colors based on functional status
  mutate(
    status_color = case_when(
      functional_status == "Functional" ~ "green",
      functional_status == "Not functional" ~ "red",
      TRUE ~ "gray"  # Unknown or missing status
    )
  )

# Create an interactive map using leaflet
leaflet(df_clean) %>%
  addTiles() %>%  # Add default OpenStreetMap tiles
  addCircleMarkers(
    lng = ~longitude,
    lat = ~latitude,
    color = ~status_color,  # Color by functional status
    radius = ~log(total_users_of_water_point + 1) * 2,  
    stroke = FALSE,
    fillOpacity = 0.7,
    # Add popups showing basic water point info
    popup = ~paste0(
      "<b>Water Point:</b> ", water_point_name, "<br>",
      "<b>Status:</b> ", functional_status, "<br>",
      "<b>Total Users:</b> ", total_users_of_water_point
    )
  ) %>%
  # Add a legend for functional status
  addLegend(
    "bottomright",
    colors = c("green", "red", "gray"),
    labels = c("Functional", "Not Functional", "Unknown"),
    title = "Water Point Status"
  )

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 18 Commits
R		R
data-raw		data-raw
data		data
docs		docs
inst		inst
man		man
.Rbuildignore		.Rbuildignore
.Rhistory		.Rhistory
.gitignore		.gitignore
CITATION.cff		CITATION.cff
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
DESCRIPTION		DESCRIPTION
LICENSE.md		LICENSE.md
NAMESPACE		NAMESPACE
README.Rmd		README.Rmd
README.md		README.md
_pkgdown.yml		_pkgdown.yml
floodresponsemw.Rproj		floodresponsemw.Rproj

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Repository files navigation

Water Point Assessments – USAID Flood Response (Malawi, 2019–2020)

Installation

Data

floodresponsemw

Data Visualization Example

About

Uh oh!

Releases 1

Packages

Uh oh!

Contributors

Uh oh!

Languages

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

Water Point Assessments – USAID Flood Response (Malawi, 2019–2020)

Installation

Data

floodresponsemw

Data Visualization Example

About

Topics

Resources

License

Uh oh!

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases 1

Packages 0

Uh oh!

Contributors

Uh oh!

Languages

Packages