WATER QUALITY INDEX Project by Anni Laurila / architecture / Aalto univ Tonya / chemical engineering / Tongji univ Booklet by Anni Laurila
References: 1) World Health Organization: Water-related diseases http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/diarrhoea/en/ 2) World Health Organization: How does safe water impact global health? http://www.who.int/features/qa/70/en/ 3) Announcement by the China’s Ministry of Land and Resources (23 Apr 2014) http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/134481/60-percent-of-chinas-water-polluted 4) Statement by Hu Siyi, vice minister at the Ministry of Water Resources (17 Feb 2012) http://en.people.cn/90882/7732438.html
Background We initially made this project for a course called Sustainability Thinking (fall 2014) at Tongji University in Shanghai, China, where teams of two were to come up with a product that would have a positive impact on sustainability. I developed this idea together with Tonya, Chinese chemistry engineering student, with mentoring from our lecturer Godert van Hardenbroek. Out of 13 teams we were the 1st prize winners (this time winning honor, some matcha tea and honey), making us enthusiastic to take our project further to make a genuine impact on a serious issue.
These photographs are by Lu Guang, an award winning photojournalist who brings the reality of the effects of pollution in China to people’s awareness.
Water related diseases are the leading cause of disease and death around the world. (WHO1):
Annually, safer water globally could prevent: 1.4 million child deaths from diarrhoea 500 000 deaths from malaria 860 000 child deaths from malnutrition 280 000 deaths from drowning 10 million from being seriously incapacitated from lymphatic filariasis and trachoma.2
In China, almost 60%
of groundwater across 203 cities is severely polluted3. About 20% of rivers were so polluted that the water quality was rated too toxic even to come into contact with4.
Tap water in China
Problem
Pollution
primary + secondary, by pipes
Factors
Effect on health
Solution/solids
Stones, Cerebrovascular disease
Pesticide/bacteria
Liver disease, Digestion disease
Fluorine
Bone rarefaction
Chlorine
Increases cancer rate by 30%
Inappropriate water treatment
CHCl3 Cancer Nitrite
Boiling does not always purify the water.
Traces of heavy metals only become more concentrated in the water, as pure water evaporates.
Bottled water is not the solution.
i.e. a research conducted at Tongji University, Shanghai, showed that even bottled water delivered to the university contained as much heavy metals as the water in the river. In summary, the reason is that the bottled water company uses the river water instead of tap water to produce it, while they don’t have the heavy metal processing step.
WATER QUALITY INDEX Check the monitored water quality at any location, and get a clear explanation of how to make the water safe to drink. No expert knowledge is needed because our collected and professionally calculated water quality data will be simplified to understandable numbers and guidelines.
Reference: Air Quality Index WQI takes reference from the well-established AQI’s (Air Quality Index).
several air quality apps in China, but currently no water quality apps. There are
Knowledge of the prevailing air quality and understanding of its damaging effect also used to be low only a few years ago in China. See topic “How this makes a big impact” to understand why this changed, and how we could make a similar impact with the WQI.
AQI:
PM2.5
Particles smaller than 2.5 Micrometers
WQI:
TDS
Total Dissolved Solids
The Air Quality Index, AQI, simplifies the air quality to a single, easy to understand digit with PM2.5 (see image x). This gives an accurate enough description of the health effects of the current air quality. In a similar way, we can use TDS, total dissolved solids, and below it provide more in-depth information.
The Water Quality Index is both a smart phone app and a website. Below are the examples of how it works.
Smart phone application. First, you type a location in the search box, or zoom in the map to click it manually. The map already displays the average level of water quality in different areas, and more and more in detail when you zoom into the map. When you have chosen the location, a separate screen comes that shows, very clearly, the value of the water quality (TDS) and what you must do to make it safe to drink. If you click the description, you will be taken to a page that will recommend the type of filters that purifies the water at this location. Below is a list of separate chemical components in the water, about which you can get more information by clicking. You can also save a location to monitor the change in the measurements of water quality.
Online version of the WQI.
Issues with bottled water
We will also include a branch in the WQI that shows the average quality of water produced by different companies. People would know which bottled water product to buy The companies would be pressured to produce clean water due to the awareness and therefore also competition that this creates
The three parts of the project that support each other:
What we do
What we outsource
Service
We will collaborate with services that calculate the tap water values of single households, factories, farms and companies. There are existing companies i.e. in Japan, that we’re currently contacting for information. The service will also provide values for the database of the Water Quality Index. The double benefit - for you and for others: 1) You will get personal, accurate and clear information for how to make your household’s water healthy 2) You will provide data for the open WQI database and therefore improve the awareness of water quality of the people at the proximity of your location.
Products
Based on the values of your tap water, we will recommend products for you that will suit your filtering needs. This is recommendation feature is also included in the WQI app (see topic “We aim to change this”). This gives us an opportunity to also team up with and promote good filters. Example Issue Many existing filters neglect the toxic matter produced in boiling and cooking (CHCl3, Nitrite) Solution Boiling step + active carbon
The WQI Database
Prices & Income
The Water Quality Index needs an extensive database to provide accurate information in the WQI application.
The Water Quality Index app and website are open and free of charge for everyone.
1) We will monitor the water factories and transit points (large cities, i.e. Shanghai has extensive network of these)
This neccessary to maximize the impact.
2) The testing service associated with the water quality index with collect anonymous data from tested households and provide it to the open WQI database. 3) There is some data provided now, however, we need to confirm that it is accurate as transparency is an issue particularly in China.
Target audience The target audience of the WQI is very wide, it includes any individuals, both residents and travellers, but also government and organizations, and any data collectors or distributors for research. The target audience of the Service is first upper-class families, and later middle-class. The Service and the Products, however, aren’t only for families, but we will also promote the importance of it to schools, building complexes, and companies like offices, hotels and restaurants. We will target the root of the problem by having farmers and water factories as users of the WQI, water quality measurement service and filtering products. Farmers will have healthier animals and better harvest, and therefore decrease the effect that contaminated water has on their produce.
1) Donations 2) The outsourced service and 3) The filters that we recommend to the customers through the WQI app will provide us a revenue to keep our work going.
Direction Is this possible elsewhere? China is the most populous country in the world, so we cannot deny that even only the focus on the biggest cities in this country would improve the health of countless people. These are the basic requirements, if we want to apply it elsewhere: 1) The country has issues in water quality. This can be due to pollution or inappropriate water management. 2) Large percentage of citizens have access to the internet through computers and/or smart phones. If number 2 isn’t the case, we can focus on bigger entities than individuals, i.e. companies, farms and water factories - “the roots of the problems”.
Largest cities of China Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu...
Expanding to the rest of China
Expanding to other countries wih similar problems
The benefits for you and your family Avoid all the illnesses, often underlying and chronic, that drinking unclean water causes. Protect your skin. Secure that your child won’t be exposed to harm during bathing. Have better tasting water, as even Chinese boiled water has a different taste than pure water. Save money and also contribute to sustainability by using tap water.
But even more importantly,
THIS IS A PART OF A LARGER MOVEMENT
AWARENESS
UPSET
DEMAND
ACTION
Reference: Awareness of Air Quality Since 2011, the Chinese public has been familiar with the technical word PM2.5, when a debate on the toxic air was initiated by public figures on Chinese social media. After that, thousands of news articles on air pollution were published and various NGO campaigns emphasized the effects of pollution. The government finally announced to take action on polluted air in 2014.2 The battle for better air quality is still not over however, as we could see from the Under The Dome controversy only a few weeks ago, when a powerful documentary on air quality in China was blocked by the Chinese firewall.
But we can ignite a similar movement with the WQI: We will create transparency, as our information will be more accurate, trustable, easy to access and clearer to understand than what is provided currently3.
We will promote awareness of water quality and safe use. A large amount of people will understand how serious the situation is. This provides motivation, knowledge and momentum for people to take action. Our verifiable data that will be in the consciousness of many people in the country will create a public demand for better water treatment and industrial waste management. This will pave the way for the improvement of the health of millions of people.
We must create the same push for the awareness and demand for safe water to improve the health of millions of people.