NSF Convergence Accelerator Track K: Towards Resilient, Equitable, Safe and Sustainable Water for Islands (RESSI-H2O)

岛屿水资源易受各种威胁的影响，包括淡水枯竭、地表水和地下水污染以及盐水入侵。岛屿面临的一个独特挑战是废水管理。由于美国太平洋岛屿的地质和地理原因，现场废水管理通常默认为污水池（一个不提供处理的地下储存区）。例如，仅夏威夷就有83 000多个垃圾池，不幸的是，这些垃圾池不处理人类排泄物。每天，估计有5 200万加仑的废水通过多孔的火山土壤泄漏到周围环境中，用营养物质和病原体污染含水层和沿海环境。简而言之，大多数美国太平洋岛屿上现有的现场废水基础设施不足，对岛屿的供水构成威胁，破坏海洋生态系统，珊瑚礁和渔业，并往往对弱势社区造成不成比例的影响。传统的以下水道为基础的集中式废水系统或现场化粪池在许多地区不适合和不足以取代污水池。迫切需要开发或采用新型分散式废水处理技术和实施战略，以有效保护人类健康和环境。这些解决方案必须适合场地、具有复原力、公平、安全和可持续（可再生能源和社会服务系统指导原则）。它们还必须考虑到气候变化和发展对当前和未来的威胁。如果废水可以被处理到高纯度，回收的水可以帮助减轻岛上淡水供应的过度提取。为了应对这些挑战，该项目汇集了来自南佛罗里达大学、夏威夷大学马诺阿分校、密歇根州立大学废水替代创新公司和斯维夫特沃特解决方案有限责任公司的水专业人员（包括工程师、社会学家、水文学家、经济学家、海洋学家、政策分析师、气候变化专家、社区组织者和作家）。该团队将以夏威夷群岛为模型，开发适合岛屿的解决方案，开发基于循环经济的分散式废水管理技术和战略，以满足美国太平洋岛屿的独特需求。RESSI-H2O项目的第一阶段包括四个重点。重点1包括团队建设和数据差距分析。推力2涉及一种新型家庭级铁循环生物过滤器的研究和实验室规模的测试，以取代传统的排水场。推力3的重点是利用NEWgenerator资源回收机开发一种新型的水、环境卫生和个人卫生（WaSH）微电网。重点4使用RESS标准评估了重点2和3中技术的技术影响和吸收障碍/机会。智力优点：该团队将创建1）概念验证，适合岛屿的原型RESSI-H2O分散式废水基础设施系统，以及2）RESSI-H2O分散式废水评级系统的初始框架。更广泛的影响：该团队与社区合作伙伴、当地废水处理专业人员以及夏威夷土著科学和工程指导计划合作，将扩大代表性不足的学生和研究人员的参与，并让社区参与，帮助夏威夷资源不足的居民建造游泳池。第二阶段的最终目标是实地测试、演示和扩展通过该项目开发的分散式废水基础设施技术，启动RESSI-H2O评级系统，并在整个太平洋岛屿地区吸引更多的合作伙伴。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Island water resources are vulnerable to myriad threats, including freshwater depletion, surface and groundwater contamination, and saltwater intrusion. One unique challenge for islands is wastewater management. Due to the geology and geography of U.S. Pacific islands, onsite wastewater management often defaults to cesspools (a subsurface holding area that offers no treatment). For example, Hawai’i alone has over 83,000 cesspools, which unfortunately do not provide treatment of human wastes. Each day, an estimated 52 million gallons of wastewater leak through porous volcanic soil into the surroundings, contaminating aquifers and coastal environments with nutrients and pathogens. In short, the prevailing onsite wastewater infrastructure on most U.S. Pacific islands is inadequate and poses a threat to island water supplies, damages marine ecosystems, coral reefs and fisheries, and often disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities. Conventional sewer-based centralized wastewater systems or onsite septic tanks are unsuitable and inadequate in many areas as replacements for cesspools. There is an urgent need to develop or introduce novel decentralized wastewater technologies and implementation strategies which can effectively provide protection to human health and the environment. These solutions need to be site-appropriate, resilient, equitable, safe and sustainable (RESS guiding principles). They also must consider current and future threats from climate change and development. If the wastewater can be treated to a high level of purity, the recycled water can help alleviate the over-extraction of the island’s freshwater supply. To tackle these challenges, this project assembles a team of water professionals (including engineers, sociologists, hydrologists, economists, oceanographers, policy analysts, climate change specialists, community organizers, and writers) from the University of South Florida, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Wastewater Alternatives & Innovations, Michigan State University, and Swiftwater Solutions, LLC. Using the islands of Hawai’i as a model for developing island-appropriate solutions, the team will develop innovative circular economy-based decentralized wastewater management technologies and strategies to meet the unique needs of U.S. Pacific islands. Phase I of the RESSI-H2O project is comprised of four thrusts. Thrust 1 includes team building and data gap analysis. Thrust 2 involves research and lab-scale testing of a novel household-level iron-cycling biofilter as replacement for traditional drainfields. Thrust 3 focuses on the development of a novel water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) micro-grid utilizing the NEWgenerator resource recovery machine. Thrust 4 evaluates the technology impacts and uptake barriers/opportunities of the technologies from Thrusts 2 and 3 using RESS criteria. Intellectual merit: The team will create 1) a proof-of-concept, island-appropriate, prototype RESSI-H2O decentralized wastewater infrastructure system, and 2) an initial framework for a RESSI-H2O decentralized wastewater rating system. Broader impacts: Working with community partners, local wastewater professionals, and the Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentoring Program, the team will broaden participation by underrepresented students and researchers and engage the community to assist under-resourced residents with cesspools in Hawai’i. The eventual goals of Phase II are to field test, demonstrate, and scale the decentralized wastewater infrastructure technologies developed through this project, launch the RESSI-H2O rating system, and engage additional partners throughout the Pacific Islands Region.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.