Collaborative Research: EAGER: SAI: Participatory Design for Water Quality Monitoring of Highly Decentralized Water Infrastructure Systems

在这个项目中，测试了一个迭代的协作框架，用于监测服务不足社区的用水点处理。该框架将社会动态和水问题方面的当地专业知识与治理、水处理和系统建模方面的项目专业知识相结合。该框架是与居民依赖卡车和瓶装水的社区共同开发的。管道和处理设施老化、干旱加剧以及供水污染都对美国的饮用水基础设施构成挑战。水通常在中央设施进行处理，然后通过管道输送给用户，但最近的技术进步可以使水在使用点（例如，房屋）进行处理。理论上，这种方法可以使水系统更能适应极端情况，减少对管道和泵送的需求，帮助水系统随着人口的变化而扩大或缩小规模，并过滤现有工厂无法经济有效地处理的污染物。然而，使用点水处理也将维护水处理基础设施、监测水质和管理水系统的负担转移到最终用户身上，给水基础设施系统带来了新的脆弱性。在本项目中，为应对这一挑战，开发了分散水处理系统中水质监测压力测试策略的迭代协作框架。本研究有助于回答21世纪水基础设施的重要问题，包括：(1)在何种生物物理和社会条件下分散式水系统是有效和可能成功的？(2)小社区分散式供水系统的合适规模是多少？(3)在美国农村环境中，水获取的障碍是什么？在这个项目中，为分散水处理系统中水质监测的压力测试策略制定了一个迭代的协作框架。压力测试将社区成员和焦点小组领导人确定的潜在挑战与水质采样和水系统数学建模结合起来。该项目通过一系列迭代活动进行：定性访谈、实地水质观察、水系统设计、第一轮焦点小组、水安全评估、定量调查和联合实验、修订水系统设计、第二轮焦点小组。这个关于水质监测参与式设计的项目通过积极地让社区参与关于当前水系统和潜在未来水系统的协作焦点小组，扩展了对水系统和社会动态的观察研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In this project, an iterative, collaborative framework for monitoring point of use water treatment in under­served communities is tested. This framework blends local expertise on social dynamics and water issues with project expertise in governance, water treatment, and systems modeling. This framework is co-developed with communities where residents rely on a combination of trucked­ and bottled water. Aging pipes and treatment facilities, droughts exacerbated, and contamination of water supplies all challenge America’s drinking water infrastructure. Water typically is treated at central facilities and then piped to users, but recent technological advances could enable water treatment at the point of use (e.g., a house). In theory, this approach can make water systems more resilient to extremes, reduce the need for pipes and pumping, help water systems scale up or down as populations change, and filter contaminants that existing plants cannot treat cost-effectively. However, point of use water treatment also shifts the burden of maintaining water treatment infrastructure, monitoring water quality, and governing water systems onto end users, creating new vulnerabilities for water infrastructure systems. In this project, an iterative, collaborative frame­work to stress test strategies for water quality monitoring in decentralized water treatment systems is developed to address this challenge. This research contributes to answering important questions for 21st century water infrastructure, including: (1) Under what biophysical and social conditions are decentralized water systems effective and likely to succeed? (2) What is the appropriate scale for decentralized water systems in small communities? (3) What are the barriers to water access in the US rural context?In this project an iterative, collaborative frame­work to stress test strategies for water quality monitoring in decentralized water treatment systems is developed. The stress test integrates potential challenges identified by community members and leaders in focus groups with water quality sampling and mathematical modeling of water systems. The project is carried out through a series of iterative activities: qualitative interviews, field water quality observations, water system design, first round of focus groups, water security assessment, quantitative surveys and conjoint experiment, revised water system design, and a second round of focus groups. This project concerning participatory design for water quality monitoring extends observational research on water systems and social dynamics by actively engaging the community in collaborative focus groups about the current water system and potential future water systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.