EAGER: PPER Developing Drought-Resilient Communities by Utilizing Acrylic Concrete Structures for Rainwater Harvesting

这个研究项目在德克萨斯州圣安吉洛的一个容易持续干旱的地区，在设计、建造和利用丙烯酸混凝土结构的雨水收集中使用了公民科学和众包。通过让市民参与水采样和水质测试，该项目深入了解了这些雨水收集系统中丙烯酸混凝土渗滤液的浸出情况，并有助于开发低成本、可持续的雨水收集系统，以支持人类消费这些收集的水。在这个研究项目中，公民科学家通过收集雨水，通过移动友好平台提交收集到的雨水的测量结果，响应关于雨水系统的调查和访谈，以及参与社区研讨会，以进行持续和适应性的项目设计。通过这一参与过程，本研究项目旨在通过考虑项目设计和实施中的当地认识论和社会经济地位，扩大在公民科学水质项目中与弱势群体接触的文献。该项目有三个目标来推进新兴的雨水收集技术：1)推进丙烯酸混凝土的设计和制造，将其作为一种低成本、可持续的雨水收集系统；2)推进对收集雨水中的丙烯酸混凝土渗滤液的理解，将其从灌溉用途扩展到人类消费用途；3)填补了关于弱势群体的地方知识如何在以水为中心的公民科学中发挥重要作用的文献空白。项目设计通过“建设”、“水”和“下一步”三个主题的研讨会，不断地进行社区外展、参与和评估，招募并带领参与者一步一步地完成研究项目。该项目正在建立一个框架，通过土木工程研究促进社区成员和弱势群体参与工程。

This research project uses both citizen science and crowdsourcing in the design, construction, and utilization of acrylic concrete structures for rainwater harvesting in San Angelo, Texas, an area prone to persistent droughts. By engaging citizens in water sampling and water quality testing this project gains insight into leaching of acrylic concrete leachate in these rainwater harvesting systems and aids in the development of low-cost, sustainable rainwater harvesting systems that can support human consumption of this harvested water. In this research project, citizen scientists participate by collecting rainwater in their backwards, submitting measurements of captured rainwater through a mobile friendly platform, responding to surveys and interviews on the rainwater system, and participating in community workshops for continued and adaptive project design. Through this engagement process this research project seeks to expand the literature on engaging with vulnerable populations in citizen science water quality projects by considering local epistemologies and socioeconomic status in project design and implementation. This project has three goals to advance emerging rainwater harvesting technology: 1) advance the state of design and manufacturing of acrylic concrete that is used as a low-cost, sustainable rainwater harvesting system, 2) advance understanding of acrylic concrete leachate in the captured rainwater expand its use from irrigation purposes to human consumption, and, 3) fill a gap in the literature on how local knowledge in vulnerable populations plays an important role in water centric citizen science. The project design has continuous community outreach, engagement and assessment through three workshops titles, "construction", "water", and, "next steps", that recruit and take participants through the research project, step by step. The project is generating a framework to facilitate engagement of community members and vulnerable populations in engineering through civil engineering research.