SCC-Planning: Smart and Connected Residential Water Quality Community

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The objective of this proposal is to plan the development of a large-scale implementation of water quality sensors at the residential level and to develop a network of sensors using an Internet-of-Things (IOT) approach. Low sensor costs and their easy integration with personal devices such as cell phones and tablets open new opportunities for the development of novel approaches to measure water quality at the household level and increase consumer confidence. The proposed IOT network also will allow the community to gather crowdsourced geo data across towns and districts to locate and ultimately solve the water quality issues in the water distribution networks.Five planning activities are proposed: 1) Collect information about available drinking water sensors to be deployed at the community level; 2) Evaluate the development of a smartphone-based Internet-of-Things system for water sensors; 3) Determine water quality perceptions nationwide; 4) Determine the willingness to adopt the sensor and network by users in different communities; 5) Engage water utilities, private well owners and other water innovation organizations with end-users (residents) to form a smart community that will have a potential to support crowdsourcing the water quality data. During this planning proposal, our team will collect data from multiple sources to propose a research strategy and to select a community for pilot testing. Simultaneously, we will identify perceptions, attitudes, behaviors and demographic aspects that could affect not only the willingness to use the sensor but also other barriers for widespread community adoption. Finally, we will identify facilities, resources and expertise that will support the successful performance of the future research. This project connects researchers from engineering, social and behavioral sciences to solve complex problems affecting our society such as insuring safe drinking water in times of decaying infrastructure.In order to orchestrate the intelligence of sensing and user interaction on smartphones for water application, it is essential to understand the requirements of the stakeholders both in the water management team and residents. Hence, we will take a participatory design approach and interact with these stakeholders periodically to conduct surveys and acquire their feedback on their needs. This will also lead us to profile the user's capabilities to use smartphones and other portable technologies such as water quality sensors. This will determine the level of willingness of users to adopt the proposed technology. Accordingly, we will design and develop the app user interfaces using design-thinking processes that will meet the needs and capabilities of end users. Additionally, we will determine the best methodologies to propose a full-scale study in one of the communities selected for this planning stage. The research team combined expertise will be able to address both social and technological aspects for the development of a smart and connected community. Supporting the community engagement efforts, New England Water and Environment Association will facilitate the communication and activities coordination between the research group and private well owners as well as water facilities. Through the two proposed workshops the research team will develop the conceptual framework for the future full proposal including the needs and concerns of the community. Additionally, they will be able to identify facilities, resources and expertise that support the successful performance of the research effort in the community.