# The Water Reporter > Environmental monitoring platform for tracking and reporting water pollution issues. (iPhone/iPad app by Commons Inc..) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-water-reporter/id668005311 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Commons Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/667570142) - Category: Utilities, Education - Price: Free - Rating: 3.63/5 from 8 App Store ratings · 10 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 10.0 · 16 MB - Languages: English - Released: 2013-07-08 - Data updated: 2026-06-10 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-water-reporter/id668005311/reviews.md ## What is The Water Reporter? Water Reporter users discover, track, and examine pollution issues that threaten ecosystem and human health via user-initiated monitoring programs. Water quality impacts our daily life and the health of our natural world. Addressing pollution threats can feel daunting: pollution sources often elude even the best scientists, and solutions take time — and resources — to make an impact. Despite all of the obstacles of combating threats to our watersheds, the environmental community is up to the challenge! With Water Reporter we’ve created a platform where everyone participating in environmental monitoring can come together to collect geolocated data to shed light on watershed quality issues and publish the results as data-driven solutions to pollution problems. Water Reporter is built and maintained by The Commons, a 501c(3) organization creating meaningful software solutions for the environmental sector. Key features: • Former web-only tools now available on compatible Apple mobile devices. • Multiple options to collect and manage your water quality monitoring data. • Build mobile-ready, location-aware data collection forms. • Collect station-specific data via digital forms. • Build data sources with your own protocols. • Define your own scores and thresholds to indicate status and health for monitoring stations or parameters. • Build portable maps to embed in websites and share through your media channels. • Integrate data from the national network of USGS stream gauges. • Maintain ownership of your data with downloadable data sources. ## Key features - Discover and track pollution issues - Collect geolocated data - Build custom data collection forms - Integrate USGS stream gauge data - Create shareable maps - Maintain data ownership ## Recent user reviews (10 of 10) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-water-reporter/id668005311/reviews.md ### 1/5 — Horrible UX *2023-07-09* This app has a terrible UX and requires upgrading to the paid tier to participate at all, which defeats its entire purpose if being used for volunteer (unpaid) data collection and reporting by everyday citizens hoping to contribute to the health and wellbeing of their waterways. There is no way to add organizations and people to follow after initial profile set up - again, defeating the purpose this app is meant to serve. As someone who has moved quite a bit in my life and cared for multiple watersheds it is disheartening to see the ability to connect and contribute so diminished. This is truly a disappointment. ### 5/5 — Neat Community *2019-11-23, version 4.1.9* Really awesome to see the number of organizations and individuals joining to share local water quality observations. It would be good to see easier ways to post reports and curate observations but lots of potential. ### 1/5 — Water reporter and IPhone 8 mine *2019-11-23, version 4.1.9* This app works very poorly with my iPhone 8. Locks up repeatedly. Not very good for me right now. **Developer response:** Hi Sorry to hear about this. We are working on some updates that should hopefully address your IPhone 8 issues. Feel free to reach out to support@waterreporter.org if you need anything else. ### 4/5 — Broken Profile *2019-06-15, version 4.1.9* The app will not let me save or even create a profile. **Developer response:** Thanks for rating and feedback. We’d be happy to help you troubleshoot. You reach out to us directly via support@waterreporter.org Have a great day! ### 3/5 — The idea of this app is great *2018-07-17, version 4.1.9* I would really like to use this app more but I am a voiceover user and not all of the features are accessible. It would be wonderful if this app could be updated so that it is completely accessible and I could interact more with the community. The idea of the app is great and I look forward to future changes where I will be able to fully take advantage of all of the features this app has to offer. **Developer response:** Thank you so much for the great feedback. The accessibility issue is one that we will work to get across the goal line as soon as we can. We want to include as many folks as possible and I really appreciate you bringing this to our attention. ### 5/5 — Great app for water responsibility *2016-12-06, version 4.0.0* Allows the community to be responsible and report positive and negative practices on local waterways. ### 5/5 — Great concept for sharing experiences on rivers *2015-10-20, version 2.0.17* This is a really interesting app that lets anyone take pictures outdoors. The pictures are automatically geolocated and emailed to local environmental groups that want to keep apprised of activities on their rivers. It's cool because you don't have to do any work to find the environmental groups. It's perfect for using if you see a possible pollution source threatening water quality or something really interesting that you want to share. Plus, there is a website where you scroll through other posts, explore maps and learn about updates on reports you submitted. It's an effortless way for anyone to help protect waterways and watersheds. ### 5/5 — Environmentalist’s best friend *2014-09-26, version 2.0.15* I tried using Arc/GIS and realized i would need a two week course in learning how to use that application. Water Reporter is so user friendly! I love the drop down menus and the geo tagging feature is marvelous. The best part is being able to read the map created by the reported tags in our county on Water Reporter.org. I love this app. It’s free, it’s point, click and shoot for reporting water issues for the environment. ### 5/5 — Easy to use and important *2014-06-26, version 2.0.14* This is a great tool for water lovers in the Chesapeake watershed to report issues! ### 5/5 — Student *2013-07-11, version 1.0* This is app is really cool. It makes pollution reporting quick and easy. Glad to be helping Bay Waterkeepers and can't wait to see some maps from the data! ## Frequently asked questions about The Water Reporter ### What is The Water Reporter used for? The Water Reporter is used to discover, track, and examine pollution issues that impact water quality and ecosystem health. It facilitates user-initiated monitoring programs and data collection for environmental purposes. ### What devices does The Water Reporter support? The Water Reporter is available on compatible Apple mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, and iPod. It also supports Apple Watch. ### How often is The Water Reporter updated? The latest version of The Water Reporter is 4.2.1, which was last updated on May 5, 2020. The app was initially released on July 8, 2013. ### What is the age rating for The Water Reporter? The Water Reporter has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a wide range of users. ### Can I integrate data from other sources with The Water Reporter? Yes, The Water Reporter allows integration of data from the national network of USGS stream gauges. You can also build data sources with your own protocols. ### Does The Water Reporter allow users to own their data? Yes, The Water Reporter emphasizes data ownership, providing downloadable data sources for users to maintain control over their collected information. ### What kind of data can I collect with The Water Reporter? You can collect station-specific data via digital forms, build mobile-ready, location-aware data collection forms, and define your own scores and thresholds to indicate status and health for monitoring stations or parameters. ### How does The Water Reporter help address pollution problems? The app provides a platform for collecting and publishing geolocated data that sheds light on watershed quality issues. This data-driven approach helps in developing solutions to pollution problems. ## Version history (last 1 release) ### 4.2.1 — 2020-05-05 In this release you'll find a customizable post feed, enhanced post submission, and new ways to follow groups, people, and watersheds. The Water Reporter experience is now more consistent across platforms, meaning that features once confined to your desktop are available in the app. Now you can create and edit groups, data sources, and maps directly from your phone. This release also corrects a bug that prevented volunteer contributors from accessing data collection forms. ## Apps similar to The Water Reporter | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [HerpMapper](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/herpmapper/id1266037481) | 3.5 (24) | Free | Utilities | | [SciFri VoxPop](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scifri-voxpop/id1464740305) | 4.8 (6) | Free | Utilities | | [VuSitu](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vusitu/id1448937574) | 4.9 (16) | Free | Utilities | | [Lower Merion Twp Report-It](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lower-merion-twp-report-it/id1099969167) | 5.0 (2) | Free | Utilities | | [RVA311](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rva311/id1408330609) | 3.3 (14) | Free | Utilities | | [1-VoIP Softphone](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/1-voip-softphone/id1592345280) | 4.1 (55) | Free | Utilities | ## More apps by Commons Inc. - [The Mainstem Network](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-mainstem-network/id1641107237) All apps by Commons Inc.: https://appshunter.io/developer/667570142 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*