NSF Convergence Accelerator Track K: Passive Samplers for Equitable Monitoring of Drinking Water Quality

目前监测饮用水质量的框架不足以公平地确定和管理已确定的和新出现的污染物。目前框架中的差距是不公平的，资源不足和少数民族人口往往在监测不足的情况下获得饮用水。该项目将通过开发一种基于使用点水过滤器的创新监测工具来解决这些差距。该项目将通过汇集水处理、微生物学、分析化学、地下水水文学、社会工作和创业等方面的专业知识，创造知识和理解，促进公平的水资源解决方案。该项目将在全国范围内改善水质和公平，具有广泛的社会效益。该项目将通过两所大学和几个非学术合作伙伴的项目招募来自不同背景的参与者，其成果将通过教育、推广和传播活动传播给广泛的受众。该项目的目标是：(1)联合一个由大学和非学术合作伙伴组成的多学科团队，开发一种基于POU过滤器的新型被动水质监测工具；(2)确定水质监测的应用研究需求；(3)与非学术合作伙伴共同设计研究和技术开发计划；(4)测试使用POU过滤器监测饮用水中的金属、全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）、农业化学品和机会致病菌的概念验证。这些目标将在使用团队科学和以人为本的设计的融合研究方法中实现。项目团队将完成创新课程。该团队将与广泛的利益相关者共同设计研究计划和技术开发计划。新监测方法的概念验证将在实验室实验中与实际水成分进行评估，以评估一系列化学和微生物污染物的积累、恢复和量化。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。

The current framework for monitoring drinking water quality is insufficient for equitably identifying and managing well-established and emerging contaminants. Gaps in the current framework are inequitable with under-resourced and minority populations often receiving drinking water with insufficient monitoring. The project will address these gaps by developing an innovative new monitoring tool based on point-of-use water filters. The project will create knowledge and understanding to advance equitable water solutions through the convergence of expertise in water treatment, microbiology, analytical chemistry, groundwater hydrology, social work, and entrepreneurship. The project will have broad societal benefits of improving water quality and equity at a nationwide scale. The project will recruit participants from diverse backgrounds through programs at two universities and several non-academic partners, and the results will reach a broad audience through education, outreach, and dissemination activities. The goals of the project are to: (1) coalesce a multidisciplinary team of university and non-academic partners to develop a new passive water quality monitoring tool based on POU filters; (2) identify use-inspired research needs for water quality monitoring; (3) co-design a research study and technology development plan with non-academic partners; and (4) test the proof-of-concept of using POU filters to monitor metals, per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), agricultural chemicals, and opportunistic pathogens in drinking water. These goals will be pursued in a convergent research approach that uses team science and human-centered design. The project team will complete the innovation curriculum. With a broad set of stakeholders the team will co-design a research plan and a technology development plan. The proof-of-concept of the new monitoring approach will be evaluated in laboratory experiments with realistic water compositions that assess the accumulation, recovery, and quantification of a range of chemical and microbiological contaminants.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.