Grant: College & Community Social Innovation Fund

Approximately 46% of Nova Scotians rely on private wells for drinking water and household use. Many of these are dug (i.e., shallower), as opposed to drilled, wells. Citizens’ dug-well water is increasingly affected by drought conditions or contaminants in Nova Scotia. While responsibility for the well—construction, maintenance, and water testing--resides with the given homeowner, municipalities and the province are concerned with monitoring groundwater quality and quantity to help authorities and residents respond to climate-change events. This proposed project will build on our college team’s results under two previous SSHRC/NSERC grants—data collection, advances in ultrafiltration, and community engagement focused on Southwestern Nova Scotia—and on the Nova Scotia Geological Survey and its Real-time Shallow Aquifer Monitoring Network, which tracks groundwater and water levels in dug wells. Currently this network has 10 sensor units installed in wells, collecting limited data. Our college applied research teams, in engineering, geomatics and IT, aim to advance the Network’s sensors. We will develop an integrated water-monitoring system, with both water quality and quantity parameters and predictive capacity for chronic conditions (e.g., drought) or sudden events (e.g., flood). Via the Network’s adoption of the sensor device and multifaceted data and our team’s outreach, the project’s benefit will be to empower both municipalities (water resource managers and emergency-response officials) and well owners, ultimately in communities across Nova Scotia, with a dynamic, real-time, automatic monitoring sensor/software system (the “device”) linked to a web portal interface (knowledge-sharing portal) for water reporting; for better municipal decision making; increased risk assessment capabilities; and reliable, time-sensitive communications to well users (advisories, alerts). Technical and social application will be tested with NSCC’s pilot group of partners. A social science professional (Research Associate) will be recruited to spearhead, with the team project coordinator, the knowledge mobilization plan, including community outreach (to pilot stakeholders, well users, and broader provincial engagement); and to ensure stakeholders’ data, perspectives, governance, and communications needs are accounted for in the device software and web development. Technicians will be recruited to aid in sensor and web development, installation, and maintenance.