NSF Convergence Accelerator Track K: Living Matter, Artificial Intelligence, and Water Nascency (LAWN) for Regenerative Environments and Equity

预计到2025年，全世界将有近30亿人遭受严重缺水之苦。在美国，西部和西南部的七个州已经处于严重的水资源压力之下。水的再利用能力可以潜在地降低从最终用户到区域水系统的各个层面的水压。灰水占住宅建筑物总废水产量的40-70%（例如，浴室水槽和浴缸）。这一资源在很大程度上仍然被浪费，但对缓解水资源短缺至关重要。虽然已经开发了几种灰水系统，但它们最多只能用于灌溉。然而，高效的太阳能光热和光催化消毒有潜力在家庭中实现综合再利用，包括用于厕所冲洗，洗衣和淋浴。此外，当太阳能光催化系统支持有机化合物去除时，它可以为当地规模的分散式水处理带来关键优势，并减少对区域一级含水层的影响。人们认识到，水的再利用和水质之间的联系对于安全和复原力至关重要，但在基本科学技术和执行战略方面缺乏实质性创新。此外，少数群体社区往往不成比例地面临水资源不足的问题，无论是质量还是数量。在本研究所在的加利福尼亚州中部等地区，气候变化加剧了水资源的获取和质量，与野火和极端高温并存时增加了脆弱性。我们的研究融合了建筑，化学，工程，生物工程，计算和社会科学，以应对这一跨学科的挑战。我们将与工业界、政府和加州的联合奥本印第安社区（UAIC）合作，推进灰水再生、公平、和家庭中水回用面板技术的人机界面。中水的组成是“灰色”的从其复杂的物理生活和惰性成分到再利用实施和人类界面的复杂社会和文化动态，再到对生态系统和基础设施。我们的项目将侧重于（i）指标，（ii）实施，（iii）转化能力，以改变我们在家庭中回收和再利用灰水的能力。我们将共同开发结合人工智能多尺度模型的中水回用的物理表征指标，并建立中水家庭回用的关键社会指标。随后，我们将建立灰水再利用的实施框架，这些框架贯穿物理和社会层面。最后，我们将与UAIC社区共同设计和开发太阳能灰水消毒家用面板的概念验证原型，并共同开发未来灰水再利用标准和建筑规范的报告。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。

Almost 3 billion people worldwide are projected to suffer from severe water scarcity by 2025. In the U.S., seven states in the West and Southwest are already under severe water stress. The capacity to reuse water can potentially decrease water pressures across scales from the end-user to regional water systems. Greywater accrues 40-70% of the total wastewater production in residential buildings (e.g., bathroom sinks and bathtubs). This resource remains largely wasted yet is critical to alleviating water scarcity. While several greywater systems have been developed, they can be used for irrigation at best. However, efficient solar photothermal and photocatalytic disinfection have the potential to be implemented for comprehensive reuse in households, including for toilet flushing, laundry, and showering. Additionally, when a solar photocatalytic system supports organic compound removal, it can yield key advantages for decentralized water treatment at the local scale and decrease impacts on aquifers at the regional level. The nexus of water reuse and water quality is recognized as critical for security and resilience but lacks substantial innovation in fundamental science and technology and implementation strategies. Further, minority communities are often disproportionately exposed to inadequate water resources, whether quality or quantity. In regions such as Central CA, the location of this study, climate change exacerbates water access and quality, augmenting vulnerability when juxtaposed with wildfires and heat extremes. Our research converges architecture, chemistry, engineering, bioengineering, computing, and social sciences to tackle this interdisciplinary challenge. We will collaborate with industry, government, and the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC) in CA to advance fundamental knowledge on greywater regeneration, equity, and the human interface of greywater reuse panel technology in households.The make-up of greywater is “grey” from its complex physical living and inert components to the complex social and cultural dynamics of reuse implementation and human interface to the multiscale impact on ecosystems and infrastructures. Our project will focus on (i) metrics, (ii) implementation, and (iii) translational capacities to transform our capacity to recycle and reuse greywater in households. We will co-develop physical characterization metrics of greywater reuse incorporating artificial intelligence multiscale models and establish key social metrics of greywater household reuse. Subsequently, we will establish implementation frameworks on greywater reuse that intersect physical and social dimensions. Lastly, we will co-design and develop a proof-of-concept prototype of solar greywater disinfection household panels with the UAIC community and co-develop a report for future greywater reuse standards and building codes.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.