I’m not sure of the scientific merit of divining (or downing) rods, but they have nonetheless been used consistently for some time to try and hunt down water sources.

Struggles for water have arguably grown even more intense in recent years as growing populations, pollution and wars have put an incredible strain on what supplies exist.

A smart solution

Residents of the Syrian city of Aleppo are turning to an altogether smarter solution to the problem. They are utilizing an interactive map via their smartphones to find clean, drinkable water.

The map was developed by the Red Cross and helps users locate the nearest water source in the city. It has over 80 such locations currently available, and provides clear directions for the user to the water source.

“The map is very simple and works on every phone, and everybody now has access to a mobile phone with 3G,” the Red Cross say. “The important thing is that it’s not just a map – which many people may not know how to read – it’s the GPS that’s making a difference because people can actually be guided to the water point closest to them.”

The terrible civil war in the city has destroyed what was a thriving commercial hub, and Syria’s most populated city, and water shortages are a regular facet of life. The infrastructure supporting the city is at breaking point, with further disruption almost inevitable as the situation escalates.

Water as a weapon

Sadly, as the war has rumbled on, water has increasingly become weaponized, hence the importance of the tool.

It emerged out of a rapidly produced prototype that was shared with engineers on Facebook. Such was the popular demand for the tool to be expanded, it was an easy decision to polish the tool up.

“Suddenly people started to share this map and were sending comments on how to improve it and asking for a new, more detailed one,” the project team say.

That original version rapidly obtained approximately 140,000 users, and the updated version has quickly secured 20,000 users of its own, despite only being launched a matter of days.

It’s a nice example of how innovation can be rapidly developed and rolled out to produce an immediate impact to end users.