Giving Compass' Take:

• According to new research, citizen groups could help improve access to plentiful, clean water and possibly avoid water-related crises.

• What are the drinking water infrastructure needs in your region? How can local funders help to improve the clean water crisis? 

• Here's why water and sanitation are the foundation for sustainable development. 

Researchers studied the water quality monitoring practices of more than a dozen citizen groups and university and government organizations in Centre County, Pennsylvania (where Penn State’s University Park campus is located).

The 13 water groups the researchers studied include ClearWater Conservancy, Centre County Pennsylvania Senior Environmental Corps, and the Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

“WE WONDERED, HOW COULD WE HELP TO MAKE THIS IMPORTANT WORK MORE VISIBLE, WHICH MIGHT MAKE IT MORE EFFECTIVE, EVEN MORE FUN, AND IMPROVE RECRUITING EFFORTS AND SUSTAINABILITY?”

“These programs are important, they are important to the people who take part in the programs, and they’re important to the public,” says John Carroll, professor of information sciences and technology and an associate of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences at Penn State.

“However, the work is not very visible. We wondered, how could we help to make this important work more visible, which might make it more effective, even more fun, and improve recruiting efforts and sustainability?”

Read the full article about citizen scientists protecting water quality by Matt Swayne at Futurity.