Idea combining remote sensing, water contamination & crowdsourcing.

Written project summary:   https://drive.google.com/file/d/10_P4_9Sm6Bz_gIf7GO1pkklQWwx7hodF/view?usp=sharing

One minute pitch:    https://www.goodwall.io/posts/open17waterweek5-345d?lang=en 

Acronyms: W= week, P= pitch

Steps marked by flags indicate feedback. Those with the info symbol only describe the slide.

• Availability of data may not necessarily be a solution. 

​-  We hoped to regularize monitoring through community involvement so action is immediate and fast tracked, at least with data at hand. Currently, water quality assessment is infrequent in India.​

​(Mentor feedback: Ana Carolina Peixoto Deveza)​

• Can fecal contamination be assessed remotely? Does it require laboratory-level testing?

- There are some multi-parameter probe that are capable of detecting total coliforms in water samples. Enterococci are used as indicators of fecal pollution. There are a few studies in this domain. Low levels of dissolved oxygen is another aspect indicative of bacterial overgrowth in water and can be sensed using probes.

​(Mentor feedback: Ana Carolina Peixoto Deveza)​

• ​Getting in touch with public service officials and the question of their willingness to contribute.
• What incentives are individuals being offered?​
• Pick a location to establish stakeholder interactions.

- Covered in Week 3

​(Mentor feedback: Francois Grey & Ana Carolina Peixoto Deveza)​

• Geotextile dewatering bags- are they contextually relevant? Or capable of retaining contamination?

​- May not be entirely foolproof, since they only trap sediments and solid effluents.

• Pick an issue: water or fecal sludge

​- Fecal desludging and treatment involves other parameters. Water monitoring for contamination through multiple sources can be done.

(Mentor feedback; Francois Grey & Ana Carolina Peixoto Deveza)

• Are these institutional bodies approachable?

- There are local chapters for these which may be contacted for such an initiatives. These bodies have been part of multiple environmental events and have worked with NGOs as well. Green clubs in undergrad colleges could also incentivize students through marks. Their job would be to educate locals and generate awareness. 

(Mentor feedback: Francois Grey)

• Have fewer bullet points on slides.
• Explanations needn't be lengthy.

• ​Investors are essential, they may be NGOs or and government authorities. Look up existing NGOs that'll be keen to fund a pilot project like yours. If it is implementable and fills a gap, it may just work.
• Don't just blame the government for insufficiencies, motivate them to support your idea and showcase possibilities of the data obtained.

​​(Mentor feedback: Francois Grey & Amudha Ravi Shankar)​

- Answers to feedback for Week 2.

Sample of the feedback app developed using EpiCollect5 from the SDGTool Kit.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L7NKPc0Gvh9bpMguK6r8Wnbq7PXnew35/view?usp=sharing

This is our own tweaked version of the persona template; just an overview.

• What follows data collection? Who is expected to solve the problem/treat it?

- For now. we hope for water department authorities to use this data to check on defaulters, especially industries  that release effluents untreated. A of now, yearly reports mean yearly notices to those responsible and therefore slower action. In areas of existing fecal contamination, water infrastructure renewal can get a push by a now informed/trained resident population. The purpose of data is to arm people and having it publicly accessible would allow for transparency.

• Stress on all possible uses of the data- research to compare water quality across different regions in India. 

(Mentor feedback: Laura​ Wirtavuori & Amudha Ravi Shankar)

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• Pitch exceeded by nearly a minute. Keep in time.

​​(Mentor feedback: Francois Grey)​