URoL:ASC: The design, development, and societal impact of rapid, in-home, water quality biosensors

The global water crisis is among the most urgent issues of our time. Billions of people globally face problems with water security caused by water contamination, leading to far-reaching adverse economic, political, nutritional, and mental and physical consequences. However, limited accessibility to water testing methods is a critical barrier to understanding water safety.

Therefore, this proposal seeks to address the need for action on water quality and water insecurity by developing a three-stage methodology for the design, development, and distribution of rapid in-home, water quality monitoring tests. The water test platform is based on knowledge gained from the study of how natural microorganisms detect water contaminants in the environment, allowing molecular engineering principles to be used to repurpose these sensing mechanisms in safe formats that can be operated by non-experts.

Using a novel combination of biological, chemical, engineering and social science techniques, this study will investigate how the ability to test water quality at home changes the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of individuals related to water access and use. The vision is that this synthetic biology biotechnology platform will help mitigate the economic, political, and health impacts of the global water crisis by providing actionable information to individuals and communities that positively impacts their daily lives and informs mitigation strategies.

This new approach to water quality monitoring will be established in collaboration with the greater Chicagoland community for the detection of lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), three water contaminants that are the subject of major public regulation and concern. In Stage 1, social science techniques will be combined with community-driven approaches to collect information that will guide the development of the tests.

In Stage 2, tests for a particular contaminant will be tested with users to understand how tests can be optimized for maximum user benefit. In Stage 3, tests will be given to users, and surveys will be used to measure changes in their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about the three specific water contaminants before and after tests are performed.

Importantly, each stage will integrate the perspectives of community stakeholders through the establishment of a community advisory board. Education and outreach activities will be performed to train a diverse group of students to combine multiple disciplines to tackle global challenges in partnership with affected communities.

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.