Jibu leverages Odyssey IoT remote monitoring and control to ensure clean drinking water for millions
In January of 2023, Odyssey partnered with Jibu, a water purification and distribution franchise business, allowing Jibu to centrally track health and performance of hundreds of water purification systems across Africa. In this case study, we examine how and why installing IoT remote monitoring and control is helping them achieve their mission.
We chose Odyssey for three reasons. First, the visibility to our systems it gives us is unparalleled, especially given the price point. We can now see system performance that we didn't have access to before. We can rest easy knowing that our systems are working and that we will be alerted in a timely manner if anything seems amiss. Secondly, they have a good partnership in the set-up process and a level of customization that is easy to implement. Finally, cost is an important factor for us, and Odyssey's system was both robust enough to meet our needs and also available at a price that works for our business. - Ibrahim Garbadeen, Global Engineering, Jibu
About Jibu:
Jibu is a for-profit social enterprise revolutionizing water purification and distribution across Africa. Jibu capitalizes, equips, and trains emerging market entrepreneurs to launch and grow essential service franchises, with drinking water as their anchor product. Using Jibu’s water filtration process, franchises purify existing water sources in high-density urban and peri-urban communities and distribute to the neighborhood within walking distance of their storefronts.
The challenge:
Jibu is committed to supplying consistently safe drinking water through its four-step filtration method. Their franchise model means that hundreds of entrepreneurs across Africa are adopting their equipment and water filtration process. While each entrepreneur is trained in the water purification system, Jibu wanted a central way to monitor the quality and performance of equipment across all franchises.
Before using Odyssey, Jibu had a remote monitoring system but, as their business scaled, Jibu came to realize they needed a more robust monitoring solution while continuing to tightly manage operating costs. Ultimately, Jibu was looking for a solution that would give them a dashboard that provided real-time visibility into how water purification machines were performing across a number of metrics – without spending a fortune.
The solution:
In February of 2023 Jibu began deploying Odyssey FernFlex devices across franchise locations. Upon getting the systems turned on, Jibu’s central management team was able to easily see the following metrics from one central dashboard:
- Liters of purified water produced at each location
- Status of key components of water treatment process like the filter
- TDS and residual chlorine
- Quality of water being produced
Additionally, the central team can automatically change the settings on the systems based on pre-specified parameters. For example:
- Auto-shutting off the machine when product quality parameter limits are exceeded
- Auto-shutting off the machine when critical treatment stages, like UV disinfection, is disabled or faulty.
The FernFlex technology is flexible and user-friendly which means Jibu asset managers can supervise systems, configure dashboards, and implement their own control mechanisms without needing to rely on Odyssey to make these changes for them. The ease-of-use means they can adapt the technology to their needs.
The results
Five months into the partnership, Jibu has a new level of insight into their distributed water purification system. In addition to better insights into their system, they have saved travel costs by reducing the need for technicians to visit franchise locations. Now, from one centralized dashboard, the Jibu team can identify issues and work with site managers remotely to solve issues.
“In addition to all the extra visibility, we expect to significantly reduce resources spent on conducting onsite data collection, as well as on machine startups and shutdowns.” - Ibrahim Garbadeen, Global Engineering, Jibu
In conclusion
Odyssey technology has helped Jibu get to the next level of insights and performance for water purification franchises. Instead of depending on site visits and self-reporting from franchise owners, Jibu’s central management team now has visibility into system performance across their franchise portfolio, ensuring more efficient operations and clean water.
Thank you to Teltonika and Resi for their additional help ensuring the Jibu setup is seamless and robust.
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