Solutions to Current Challenges in Widespread Monitoring of Groundwater Quality via Crowdsensing

Community science via a crowdsensing platform offers a unique approach to assess well water quality efficiently at a large scale by providing an infrastructure-free solution and allowing the community to feel empowered to assess and protect their drinking water safety. Although nearly 40 million people rely on groundwater wells as the main source of their drinking water, these groundwater stores are easily contaminated. Moreover, there are no federal laws or central utilities to monitor well water quality. Therefore, broad monitoring efforts are needed to ensure access to safe drinking water in well-dependent communities. Here, we address current challenges to effectively employ a crowdsensing approach across community types, such as participant recruitment and engagement, access to technology, and data reliability. We then present viable solutions to overcome these challenges. Finally, we highlight a case study from the University of Notre Dame involving local partnerships to serve as a model framework that can be broadly implemented across both spatial and temporal scales. In using rigorous approaches to crowdsensing, well-dependent residents and local stakeholders can better understand their local water quality issues and make improvements to enhance the health of their community. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.