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

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 led to some populations 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 water solutions through the convergence of expertise in water treatment, microbiology, analytical chemistry, groundwater hydrology, social work, and entrepreneurship. The project will have broad benefits of improving water quality 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.