Clarity tubes as effective citizen science tools for monitoring wastewater treatment works and rivers

Simple item page
cg.contributor.affiliationGroundTruth
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of KwaZulu‐Natal
cg.contributor.donorGroundTruth
cg.contributor.donorCGIAR Trust Fund
cg.contributor.initiativeDigital Innovation
cg.coverage.countrySouth Africa
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ZAen_US
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Africa
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4937
cg.identifier.iwmilibraryH053559
cg.identifier.projectIWMI - C-0016
cg.isijournalISI Journal
cg.issn1551-3793
cg.issue5
cg.journalIntegrated Environmental Assessment and Management
cg.reviewStatusPeer Review
cg.volume20
dc.contributor.authorGraham, P. M.
dc.contributor.authorPattinson, N. B.
dc.contributor.authorLepheana, A. T.
dc.contributor.authorTaylor, R. J.
dc.date.accessioned2025-02-13T03:35:02Z
dc.date.available2025-02-13T03:35:02Z
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/173001
dc.titleClarity tubes as effective citizen science tools for monitoring wastewater treatment works and rivers
dcterms.abstractImproved freshwater resource management requires the implementation of widespread, effective, and timely water quality monitoring. Conventional monitoring methods are often inhibited by financial, infrastructural, and human capacity limitations, especially in developing regions. This study aimed to validate the citizen-scientist-operated transparency or clarity tube (hereafter “clarity tube”) for measuring water clarity as a proxy for total suspended solids (TSS) concentration, a critical quality metric in river systems and wastewater treatment works (WWTW) effluent in Southern Africa. Clarity tubes provided a relatively accurate and precise proxy for TSS in riverine lotic systems and WWTW effluent, revealing significant inverse log- linear relationships between clarity and TSS with r 2 = 0.715 and 0.503, respectively. We demonstrate that clarity-derived estimates of TSS concentration (TSScde) can be used to estimate WWTW compliance with WWTW effluent TSS concentration regulations. The measurements can then be used to engage with WWTW management, potentially affecting WWTW performance. Overall, these findings demonstrate the usefulness of clarity tubes as low-cost, accessible, and easy-to-use citizen science tools for high spatial and temporal resolution water quality monitoring, not only in rivers in Southern Africa but also in WWTW effluent for estimating compliance, with strong global relevance to the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.available2024-09-01
dcterms.bibliographicCitationGraham, P. M.; Pattinson, N. B.; Lepheana, A. T.; Taylor, R. J. 2024. Clarity tubes as effective citizen science tools for monitoring wastewater treatment works and rivers. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 20(5):1463-1472. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4937]
dcterms.extent1463-1472.
dcterms.issued2024-09
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
dcterms.publisherWiley Periodicals LLC
dcterms.subjectcitizen science
dcterms.subjectwastewater treatment
dcterms.subjectwater quality
dcterms.subjectrivers
dcterms.subjectfreshwater
dcterms.subjectmonitoring
dcterms.subjectparameters
dcterms.typeJournal Article

Files

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.75 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

IWMI Journal Articles
Water Futures Data and Analytics (WFDA)