Rethinking the Charles
Our Mission:
The Goal
Our goal is to collect data about the Charles river regarding water quality which will help us learn more about environmental dangers concerning the Charles, as well as the effects pollution and other problems have had on the community.
The Plan
In lieu of lofty promises of remote control or automation that will lead to both ineffective management and deployment when we expand our efforts, we have reached out to the kayaking community for a chance to save their river. Kayakers will simply attach our device to their kayak, which will send data to us in real time.
How to Help
We need volunteers who love to kayak and also love the environment. If you would like to have the chance to both have fun and save the enviroment, visit the contact-us page or shoot us an email at
Our Data
Temperature
Water temperature is vital in ensuring the safety of aquatic ecosystems. Many organisms simply can't survive outside of a certain temperature range, since temperature dictates factors as varied as metabolism of cold-blooded species, rate of algae growth and thus eutrophication, and percent of dissolved oxygen. As both fauna and flora are killed by unsuitable living conditions, water quality degrades further.
pH
Similar to temperature, water pH is an invisible, yet key factor in the health of aquatic ecosystems. Chemical imbalances introduced through natural causes along with human activity negatively affect creatures adapted to living in a specific pH range. Furthermore, pH fluxes jeopardize aquatic ecosystems as well as humans by either activating normally harmless chemicals or introducing them.
Turbidity
Turbidity is the measure of the clarity of water and is directly related to dissolved solids. Higher concentrations of matter affects the amount of light that penetrates the water, which in turn controls the growth of photosynthetic organisms. Not only this, but nutrients may be dissolved as well, further ramping up environmental instability. In addition, the muck that contributes to high turbidity plays host to many pathogens and thus poses a threat to human health.
Real-Time Heat Map
