A smart water monitoring and billing system (SWMBS) : a case study of Makerere-Kikoni, Kawempe Division, Kampala City

Abstract

This study focused on the design and implementation of a Smart Water Monitoring and Billing System aimed at improving water usage accountability and payment efficiency among households in Makerere-Kikoni. The initiative was motivated by the challenges that many residents face for example the high-water bills caused by lack of real-time water monitoring and clear usage information due to the reliance on manual meter readings and postpaid billing, which results in disputes over water consumption and delayed payments. To address these issues, this study employed qualitative research where primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews with a sample of 23 respondents selected using stratified purposive sampling techniques. The findings revealed the need for a user-friendly, transparent, and responsive system that enables real-time monitoring of water usage and supports prepaid billing. The system was developed in four phases. The first phase was about a review of related water management systems which helped in the system design and identifying best practices. The second phase dealt with user requirements analysis where the analysis of the collected data was done using thematic analysis method and later came up with object-oriented diagrams which included a use case diagram, flow chart diagram, activity diagram, class diagram, sequence diagram, state diagram, collaboration diagrams and state chart diagram which guided the design and implementation of the system. The third phase involved system implementation using Laravel, a PHP framework, Bootstrap, a CSS framework, HTML and MySQL. Finally, the system underwent testing through unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and user acceptance testing to ensure functionality, accuracy, and user satisfaction. The Smart Water Monitoring and Billing System was proved to offer significant benefits to water utility providers, consumers, and policy makers by enhancing transparency, encouraging water conservation, and streamlining revenue collection.