A Science Driven Community Response to the Waterway Nitrate Pollution Crisis
The rampant eutrophication crisis present in waterways throughout the world has proven to be a dangerous foe. Nitrate contamination in water systems cause a myriad of problems, both environmental and health related. Nitrate over saturation may lead to eutrophication, the process by which algae and plant blooms spawn in abundance and subsequently die off when temperatures are unfavorably cold to growth (autumn time). This process produces large “dead zones” whereby biotic factors in aquatic ecosystems suffocate. When ingested in higher quantities (10 mg/L or above), nitrates can also become toxic to warm-blooded animals through carcinogenic properties, as well as causing birth defects. A social lack of awareness perpetuates the nitrate issue and makes individuals who are directly compromised by a deadly issue, to turn a blind eye. In order to combat nitrate contamination and the process of eutrophication in waterways, a simple and easy to use method was devised by Analytics for Water Action, AWA. Through the use of colorimetric spectroscopy through a mobile application, data acquisition and analytics can be undergone out in the field, right at the source, rather than taking samples back into the lab. AWA’s method has a percent error of 3%, when detecting at the low range (0.2 mg/L – 2 mg/L) and a percent error of 1% at the medium to high range (2 mg/L – 100 mg/L). This process leads to cheaper, and therefore, more widespread nitrate detection throughout the world, allowing for data analytics to be undergone with a more accurate and larger sample set. A custom designed application (iOS & Android) receives nitrate concentrations from a photo through a sequence of image analysis processes, which is dependent on the red value of the photo produced from by a reaction with the Griess reagent. Following the user collected nitrate concentration of his or her sample, all the data is sent to a cloud database which interfaces with AWA’s website. On the app and website, users have access to a mapping interface that is constantly updated with app-collected values. These data points are plotted to the map, which further interpolates data from NOAA in order to recognize trends in nitrate presence. The final stage in the analysis portion involves database integration with academia, NGO initiatives, industrial bodies, and governmental administrations for further remediation and benchmarking. A heavy focus on public policy reform is undergone through the recognition of periods and locations of increased nitrate concentrations. This increase may result from fertilizer over-use in certain areas, manure disposal from meat-producing facilities, and other factors that are associated with human activity. AWA is built on user interaction with global environments. Through the utilization of a crowd sourcing method of data collection, a larger and more responsive data set can be created for mass implementation and use. Given the ease of access and widespread use of smartphones in the world, a crowd sourcing method that involves the smartphone platform can access a huge percentage of the global population.
Intel Science & Engineering Fair (Second Place - Environmental Engineering) https://abstracts.societyforscience.org/Home/PrintPdf/6717
Stockholm Junior Water Prize (Bjorn von Euler Award) https://www.wef.org/globalassets/assets-wef/3---resources/for-the-public/stockholm-junior-water-prize/2017-state-winners.pdf