Communications of the ACM
Spanish Software Tracks the Source of Fecally Polluted Water
A research team in Spain has developed software that can predict the source of fecal pollution in bodies of water.
Credit: Juan Jos Abenza Moreno
A Spanish research team has developed software that can predict the source of fecal pollution in seas, reservoirs, and rivers.
Called Ichnaea, the software is based on the development of prediction models used to analyze microbial, chemical, or eukaryotic indicators. The reliability of the prediction depends on the number and quality of water samples used to train the computer-learning models, the parameters that have been analyzed, and their relevance.
The software is still in the prototype stage, but the team plans to move the application to the cloud, which would enable anyone with a computer or laptop to access the system. Users will be able to adapt the prediction to their geographical location, and work with the open access results of other scientists in the system's database if they lack water samples.
"Identifying the species to which the traces belong would help in resolving conflicts about who is responsible for the fecal pollution," says University of Barcelona researcher Anicet R. Blanch.
From SINC (Information and Scientific News Service)
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