People Power: Technology Allows Smartphone-based Water Testing
NSF-Funded Project Will Allow People to Test Water, Share Results
“The goal is to have citizens help to investigate and monitor water quality near where they live, while educating people about potential threats in environmental or drinking water,” said Wei-Chuan Shih, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH. “This type of citizen science is a priority for the National Science Foundation, to increase awareness of science and technology through individual participation.”
Shih received a $100,000 grant from the NSF citizen science initiative to develop the technology, which builds upon an inexpensive lens his lab created last year, allowing people to turn their smartphones into microscopes.