Volunteer To Be Part Of The Solution

The world's water and sanitation crises needs active participation from everybody collaborating together. It is not going to be solved by governments, NGOs, or the private sector using yesterday's operating model. PWX is the only combination of people, process, and technology that can address these humanitarian crises. PWX is scalable and transparent and allows ordinary citizens and groups to easily be part of the local and global effort.

The PWX Approach to Verification

PWX is addressing these issues that prevent us from fully understanding the real impact of our current investment and improve the management and impact of future investments.

First, our peer process does not lay blame, but seeks to learn from failures, which are often not the doing of the implementer or funder. In fact, peers learn from others mistakes and appreciate honesty.

Second, we believe that the vast majority of projects can and should be verified by simple steps that can be followed by any visitor:

• Is the system operating or broken? PWX compares the status reported by the last visitor with the project status reported by the implementer and raises a flag if they are different.
• Are people using it? Have they done something different or special with it?
• Any other observations - visual or through friendly conversations?
• Photos or video, even using a mobile phone.

We welcome groups and individuals to visit projects, to learn about our members and their work, take pictures, and talk to people. Of course, if visitors can sample water quality, we welcome it, but it is not necessary.

For PWX, the projects do not end with the ribbon-cutting ceremony! Our monitoring features can help track activities and events even on a daily basis. Our verification program seeks to learn how the people evolve. We need to know what happens years after the project implementation phase is over. We want to understand the real long-term impacts of projects. With your help.

Instructions for Helping Verify Project Operations

The more people that visit projects the better!

Use our map, search, or lists, to find a project that you can visit. Note that GPS coordinates are often approximate and the location/site data is marked as such. Contact us, if you need help in arranging a visit.

Before the visit, read the application, the Q&A, the project report, and field notes. Download our android app (for which we are happy to provide a login), and download project data onto the mobile, especially if you are going offline. During the visit capture as much data as possible; conduct an interview or two, take pictures and/or video.

After the visit go to the project page and click on "Submit Visitor Note. Upload the narrative, videos, and photos (the mobile app will upload all data entered automatically). More detailed instructions are available here.

As we scale up and more projects are managed through our platform finding projects to visit will become easier. Thank you!

Software Testing

We are constantly enhancing PWX and often use savvy volunteers to test new features and functionality.

Assistance in the Proposal Process

Some of our members seek help with their plans for funding. It may be translation issues or issues around developing budget spreadsheets or cropping and uploading pictures.

There are no requests for help currently. In the future, we hope to be able to allow members to post requests for help on our map and website directly.

Be The Change

Of course, change must begin in our own backyard where we can find ways to conserve water, avoid polluting downstream, and if possible, recharge and enhance water supply.

There are many sites, books, and a neighbor or two who can provide advice on how to go about doing it. The book Blue Planet Run, has many facts about water in a way to help educate and change behavior. Get it, read it, and get one for a friend. The design of the PWX office shows the possibilities of saving water, reusing water, and minimizing energy use.