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WIMS Mobile App — Field User Guide

Water Information Management System

Updated 3 June 2026

Field teams no longer capture data blind. The WIMS mobile app shows you the full picture at the point of measurement — previous readings, historical charts and trends — so you can see immediately whether a reading is normal, unusual or alarming. WIMS helps you stop chasing data and start interpreting it, right there at the borehole.

Why the readings you take matter

Water touches everything — production, safety, supply, compliance and environmental protection all depend on understanding the water system. Every reading you capture in the field becomes part of one trusted dataset that hydrogeologists, managers and regulators rely on.

This app is built for the field: it works fully offline, saves your work to your phone the instant you tap Save, and syncs to the server automatically the moment you have signal. You never lose a reading because you were out of range.

What's New in this release

Here is what has been added to the app recently.

Pinch-to-zoom on the map

Zoom in and out with two fingers, just like any map app — on both iPhone and Android. See §2

Sensor readings on the charts

Water-level charts now show automatic sensor readings alongside your manual readings, so you see the full trend. See §5

Edit your last reading

Made a typo? You can edit a reading you just captured for up to 30 minutes, on every capture screen. See §3

Comment & impediment on water levels

Add a note to a reading, or record why a borehole could not be measured (an impediment) instead of leaving it blank. See §3.1

Show or hide asset types

Tidy up a busy map by hiding flow meters or rainfall stations — your data stays safe, it is only hidden from view. See §2

Email a report to the WIMS team

One tap sends a full diagnostic to support if something looks wrong — no need to describe the problem yourself. See §8

Clearer sync diagnostics

The diagnostic screen now shows far more detail about your data, last sync and any recent problems. See §8

Rock-solid offline editing

Readings you capture or edit while offline now always reach the server when you sync — nothing is lost or quietly reverted. See §6

1. Getting Started

Logging in

  1. Open the WIMS app. On the login screen, enter the email address and password your administrator gave you.
  2. Tap Log In. The first time you log in you must have an internet connection.
  3. If your details are wrong you will see "Incorrect email or password". If the app cannot reach the server you will see a connection message instead — check your signal and try again.
Offline login: Once you have logged in successfully online at least once, the app remembers you. After that you can open the app and reach your cached data even with no signal.
The WIMS login screen Screenshot pending01-login.png
Figure 1 — The login screen.

Choosing your site

  1. If you have access to more than one site, the Select Site screen appears. Use the search box to find your site by name, then tap it.
  2. If you only have one site, the app skips this step and takes you straight to the map.
Choosing a site Screenshot pending02-site-select.png
Figure 2 — Selecting a site.

Choosing what to download (first time only)

The very first time you open a site, the app asks what you want to work with so it only downloads what you need — keeping things fast.

  1. Tick the borehole types you work with (for example monitoring or production boreholes).
  2. Choose whether to include standalone flow meters and rainfall stations.
  3. Tap continue to start the first download — the app then runs its initial sync (below).
Change your mind later: You can switch any of these on or off at any time from the map menu (see §2). Turning one on while online downloads it there and then.
Choosing borehole types to download Screenshot pending03-borehole-type-select.png
Figure 3 — First-time download choices.

The first sync

As soon as you continue, the app runs its initial sync — it downloads all the boreholes, flow meters, rainfall stations and their reading history for your site. You only do this once; after that the app keeps itself up to date with quick background syncs.

  1. A progress window shows each step as it downloads. On a large site this can take a few minutes — let it finish.
  2. When the sync completes, the window closes and the map opens with all your data ready to use.
Do this on a good connection: Run the first sync somewhere with strong signal or WiFi before you head out. Once it is done, everything you need is on your phone and the app works fully offline.
The initial sync downloading site data Screenshot pending04-initial-sync.png
Figure 4 — The initial sync downloading your site.

Download the offline map

Many monitoring sites have little or no mobile signal. Downloading the map for your site now means it keeps working — markers, your location and all — when you are out of range.

  1. While you still have signal, open the map menu and choose Download offline map.
  2. The app shows the download size for the area around your site. Tap to confirm.
  3. A progress bar tracks the download. When it finishes, the map works fully offline.
Set it up once: Like the first sync, do this on a good connection before heading out. You can re-download or update the offline map later from the same menu.
Downloading the offline map Screenshot pending05-offline-map-download.png
Figure 5 — Downloading the offline map.
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2. Finding Your Way Around New

The map

The map is your home screen. It shows the boreholes, flow meters and rainfall stations at your site, colour-coded by type, plus your own live position as a blue dot.

  • Search — use the search box to jump to any borehole, flow meter or rainfall station by name.
  • Pinch to zoom — zoom in and out with two fingers; drag with one finger to pan. New
  • Tap a marker — a small popup shows a mini chart and buttons to capture a reading or open the full details.
  • Locate me — tap the crosshair button to follow your GPS position; the map keeps you centred until you pan away.
The map with markers and the blue location dot Screenshot pending06-map-overview.png
Figure 6 — The map screen.

The status bar at the top

The top of the map always tells you how things stand:

  • Signal icon — green when the app can reach the WIMS server, grey/red when it cannot. This checks the actual server, not just your WiFi, so it is honest about whether your data can sync.
  • Last synced — how fresh your data is. It turns amber, then red, the longer it has been since the last successful sync.
  • Pending badge — a small red number showing how many readings are saved on your phone waiting to upload.

The menu and the add (+) button

  • The menu lets you show or hide each asset type, sync now, download offline maps, open the diagnostic, and log out.
  • Show / hide asset types only changes what you see — it never deletes your data. New
  • The + button lets you add a new borehole, flow meter or rainfall station in the field (see §4).
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3. Capturing Readings

Every capture screen works the same way: it shows you the history and the latest reading first, so you can sense-check your new value before you save. Everything here works whether you are online or offline.

Saved instantly. The moment you tap Save, your reading is stored on your phone and you see a confirmation. If you have signal it uploads straight away; if not, it waits safely in the pending queue and uploads on the next sync.

3.1 Water level New

  1. Tap a borehole on the map (or open it and choose Capture Water Level).
  2. Check the history chart and the latest reading shown at the top.
  3. Enter the water level (depth to water, in metres). The date and time default to now — change them if you are logging an earlier reading.
  4. If you could not measure it, choose an impediment instead (for example an obstruction in the hole) and save without a value. New
  5. Add an optional comment if anything is worth noting. New
  6. Tap Save.
Fix a mistake: For 30 minutes after you save, an Edit button appears on the latest-reading card so you can correct your own reading. After 30 minutes, changes must be made on the web app. New
A borehole's water-level history popup Screenshot pending07-water-level.png
Figure 7 — A borehole's water-level history — tap the capture button to add a reading.

3.2 Flow meter

  1. Tap a flow meter on the map, or open a borehole that has one.
  2. Choose the reading type: cumulative (the running total on the meter) or instantaneous (the current flow rate).
  3. Type the reading, or use the camera button to photograph the meter — the app reads the digits for you (OCR) and you confirm them.
  4. If your meter shows different units, tap the unit selector and pick them; the app converts to the WIMS standard automatically.
  5. Optionally attach the photo of the meter as evidence.
  6. Check the date and time, then tap Save.
Photo & auto-read: Photographing the meter both records proof and fills in the number for you — useful when the dial is hard to type while standing at the meter. Photos are viewable later on the web app.
A flow meter's daily-flow chart Screenshot pending08-flow-meter.png
Figure 8 — A flow meter's daily-flow chart.
Capturing a flow reading from a photo Screenshot pending09-flow-capture.png
Figure 9 — Capturing a flow reading from a photo — the app reads the digits for you.

3.3 Pump utilisation (hour meter)

  1. Open a production borehole and choose Capture Pump Utilisation.
  2. Enter the total hours shown on the pump's hour meter.
  3. Tick manual entry if you are reading it by hand.
  4. Check the date and time, then tap Save.

The app works out how many hours the pump ran since your last reading and plots it on the utilisation chart.

Capturing pump utilisation Screenshot pending10-hour-meter-capture.png
Figure 10 — Pump utilisation capture.

3.4 Rainfall

  1. Tap a rainfall station on the map.
  2. Enter the rainfall depth in millimetres.
  3. Add an optional comment.
  4. Check the date and time, then tap Save.
A rainfall station's history popup Screenshot pending11-rainfall.png
Figure 11 — A rainfall station's history — tap the capture button to add rainfall.
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4. Adding New Assets

Found a borehole, flow meter or rainfall station that is not on the map yet? You can add it on the spot, even with no signal.

  1. Tap the + button on the map and choose what to add.
  2. The app captures your current GPS position automatically. If you are standing a little way off, tap pick on map to drop the pin in exactly the right spot.
  3. Enter a name (and, for a borehole, its type and optional elevation).
  4. Tap Save. The new asset is stored on your phone immediately and appears on the map; it uploads to the server on the next sync.
The add-asset menu Screenshot pending12-add-asset-menu.png
Figure 12 — Tap + and choose what to add.
The add-borehole form Screenshot pending13-add-borehole.png
Figure 13 — The add-borehole form, with GPS captured.
Wrong spot on an existing borehole? Open the borehole and use Update Location to set it to where you are standing now.
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5. Reading the Charts New

Open any borehole to see its full picture. The charts are there so you can interpret a reading in context before you even leave the site.

  • Water level — your manual readings plus, where available, automatic sensor readings on the same chart, so you see the complete trend. New
  • Flow — a bar chart of daily throughput (m³ per day).
  • Pump utilisation — hours run per day.
  • Rainfall — millimetres per day.
Reading depths: Water levels are shown as the depth below ground. On the chart, deeper water sits lower down so the line drops as the water level falls — exactly as you would picture it underground. The numbers on the axis are the plain depth (for example 50 m).
Water-level chart with manual and sensor readings Screenshot pending14-borehole-overview-chart.png
Figure 14 — A water-level chart with manual readings and sensor.
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6. Working Offline & Syncing

How offline works

The app is built offline-first. You can capture readings, add assets and browse existing data anywhere — no signal needed. Everything you save is stored safely on your phone and marked pending until it uploads.

When you get signal again, the app syncs automatically: it uploads your pending readings and downloads the latest data from the server. You can also sync any time from the map menu.

If you downloaded the offline map during setup (see §1), the map itself also works with no signal — markers and your location included.

Your edits are protected. If you edit a reading offline, that change always wins when you sync — it is never quietly overwritten or reverted by older data from the server. New

Reading the sync status

You seeIt means
OnlineThe app can reach the WIMS server — your data can sync.
OfflineNo connection to the server. Keep working; your readings are safe and will upload later.
3 pendingThree readings are saved on your phone, waiting to upload.
Data is 2h oldIt has been a while since your last sync — sync when you can.
Sync before going to the fieldYour data is very stale — sync before heading out.

During a sync, a progress window shows each step as it completes. When it finishes, the pending number drops to zero.

Sync progress window Screenshot pending15-sync-progress.png
Figure 15 — Sync in progress.
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7. Account & Settings

Open Settings from the map to manage your account.

  • See your name and email.
  • Read the privacy policy.
  • Log out when you hand the device to someone else.
  • Delete your account (requires your password to confirm).
  • Check the app version — useful when contacting support.
Settings screen Screenshot pending16-settings.png
Figure 16 — Settings.
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8. Getting Help New

Send a report to the WIMS team

  1. Tap the signal icon at the top of the map to open the diagnostic.
  2. Review the summary if you like — it covers your site, your data counts, the last sync and any recent problems.
  3. Tap Email to WIMS Team to send the full report to support automatically, or Share Log to send it yourself. New
Honest results: If a server is not set up to send email, the app tells you and suggests Share Log instead — it will never claim a report was sent when it was not. New
Diagnostic and email report Screenshot pending17-diagnostic-log.png
Figure 17 — The diagnostic screen.

Common messages

MessageWhat to do
Incorrect email or passwordRe-check your details. If you are sure they are right, contact your administrator.
Unable to connect / check your internetYou have no path to the server. Keep working offline; it will sync when signal returns.
Session expiredLog in again. This happens if you have been offline a long time.
Sync failedYour data is still safe on the phone. Try Sync again when you have a better connection.
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