2025 in Review

The year 2025 began with a challenge that shook the foundations of the global WASH sector. On January 28, an astonishing 46% of Official Development Assistance vanished overnight, creating an existential crisis for countless organizations. For mWater, this moment became a defining test. Would the Digital Public Good model, built on principles of open access and resilience, withstand the pressure?

The answer was a resounding yes.

This is the story of how we not only weathered the storm but emerged stronger, more innovative, and more committed than ever. It’s a story of doing more with less and proving that when technology is treated as a public good, the entire sector benefits.

A Year of Unprecedented Growth

Despite sector-wide funding contractions, the mWater platform experienced record user growth in 2025. The network effects of our community-driven model were on full display as more users contributed data, context, and capacity, strengthening the platform for everyone.

By the numbers, our global community grew to:

  • 7,000+ organizations

  • 198 countries and territories

  • 25% year-over-year growth in our user base

  • 6+ million sites mapped globally

  • Over 40 million surveys completed to date

  • 60,000 water systems mapped in total

This incredible growth underscores a fundamental principle: sustainable systems are built on resilience, not dependency. Even if the funding landscape has undergone drastic change, the fundamental human needs persist.

Product Innovation: Game-Changing Tools for the Sector

2025 was our most transformative year yet for product development. We rolled out powerful new features designed to solve critical challenges for our users.

Customer Management & Billing for Utilities

On July 9, we launched a revolutionary feature set for water utilities: Customer Management & Billing, Meter Reading, and Accounting. Offered completely free, these modules empower utilities in low-resource settings to professionalize their services, manage customer databases, automate billing based on consumption, and track financial performance.

As Arjen Naafs, IRC Water Resource and Climate Change Officer, noted, "This is nothing short of a small revolution for utilities in low-resource areas. This helps immensely in professionalising the services, boosting the financial management, and therefore improving the investment profile of the utility."

The Capstone Release: Introducing Workflows

In December, we unveiled Workflows, a feature that transforms how organizations manage complex, multi-step processes. Workflows structure everything from borehole drilling supervision and preventive maintenance to meter reading assignments and water quality control. It ensures that follow-up actions occur automatically, eliminating the need for manual coordination and saving time, thereby preventing critical tasks from falling through the cracks.

Other key features we launched this year include:

  • Email Notifications for Surveys: Stay updated with daily, weekly, or real-time alerts.

  • Radius and Ruler Tools: Essential helper tools for mapping and verifying service coverage zones.

  • Signature Question Type: A simple way to get field verification and approvals.

See all of our updates at https://portal.mwater.co/#/resource_center/feature_updates


Impact at Scale: Our Work on the Ground

Angola Cholera UNICEF Project
In response to Angola's ongoing cholera public health challenge, we helped develop the Angola Cholera Management Information System. Built on our sister platform, Solstice, this system provides real-time case tracking, intervention monitoring, and rapid response coordination, empowering health officials to save lives.

Uganda District Mapping
With funding from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, we conducted district-wide mapping of over 4,600 water points across three districts in Uganda. This initiative not only provided vital data but also created employment opportunities for 104 district staff and youth.

Looking Forward: Our AI-Powered Vision for 2026

Our commitment to responsible, AI-powered innovation remains strong. In 2026, we’re excited to introduce our most advanced AI feature yet: the Integrator. This intelligent system, courtesy of UNICEF Madagascar, will automate complex data imports and integrations across platforms.

We will also be enhancing our platform with:

  • Optional two-factor authentication for enhanced security.

  • A library of workflow templates for common WASH scenarios.

  • Dashboard enhancements like side menus and map extent filtering.

  • New survey question types, including file uploads.


A Closing Reflection

2025 tested the WASH sector like never before. It forced overdue conversations about sustainability, local ownership, and scale. And it taught us one thing: building technology as a Digital Public Good creates something that any single funding decision can’t shut down.

A heartfelt thank you to every organization, partner, funder, and user who contributed to this remarkable year. With your support, we are committed to taking the pre-eminent WASH data platform to ever greater heights in the years to come.

Ready to join our growing community?

2025 Newsletter mWater by Binepe Bwambale


Petri mWater