Maui Ocean Safety Data Collection and Awareness Project

Aidan Griffin / 9-28-18 / Senior Seminar

For my senior project, I had a few main focuses. For one, I wanted to do

something that related to skills that I have. Secondly, I wanted to do something that
 Griffin 2

benefited the community and had the ability to help people. Lastly, I needed to do

something that I’m passionate about and would enjoy.

Since I’m very interested in technology and my internship was primarily focused

on computer science, I realized that this had to be a driving point of my senior project. I

wanted something that was connected to my previous knowledge and internship, so I

decided to use programs I had experience with during that time. However, despite the

fact that I’m proficient in the programs I will be using, there is still a lot for me to learn. I

didn’t want to start from scratch and learn new software. I am drawing from skills that I

have, but also building them and acquiring new ones. Next, I needed to meet my

second requirement, making a helpful project.

I learned a lot from Junior Projects. Perhaps the most important thing being that

my project had to be something that is made with an intention to help the community. It

can’t be something that could possibly help out. Intentions are important with this

project. With this in mind, I looked inward and outward. What did myself and other

people need that I could help them acquire? After much pondering, I reviewed my

interests to draw inspiration.

I am a huge proponent of saving the environment and loving the earth. On a

smaller scale, this means taking care of the Aina. To do this, we need to look after the

woods, the air, and the water on Maui. The latter of which is perhaps the most important

out of the three. Living on a small island in the middle of a large body of water, the

ocean is what our lives are based around. Therefore, I decided to make my project

reflect my love for the ocean. I thought of something that I could do that helps the

ocean, benefits the community, and utilizes skills that I possess.

 Griffin 3

The answer, in summary, is an interactive map of Maui and all of its beaches

where you can click on each one and easily find out information about the quality of the

water and more. I would both collect my own information and work with other groups

that observe water quality around Maui. Then, I would program it into a ArcGIS map on

a self-made website. My driving question is: “what is the best way to inform the

community of the quality of water at beaches and streams around Maui.” My project will

answer this.

The goal of my project is to make a fully functioning map that anyone on Maui

can easily access. I want to collect the most accurate information possible. If possible, I

also want to come up with reasons why the water quality might differ (on different

beaches around the island) and share that information as well. While bacterial

information is already collected around Maui, it is not easily accessible to the public. My

idea came from wanting to know this information and more.

This project is important because it regards public health and safety. The more

informed that people are, the better. I want to give people an opportunity to make a

more informed decision regarding the places that they swim. It is peoples right to know

what they are exposing themselves to. Additionally, I hope that if people know where an

excess of pollutants exist, they can do something to reverse that phenomenon. If this

happens, then I am doing my part in protecting the ocean.

The concepts that my project will be covering are: water quality on a bacterial

level, water regulations on various governmental levels, sensor building, programming,

data input, and effective marketing. There may be additional concepts along the way.

For my project, I must learn the different types of enterobacteria and their effects
 Griffin 4

on the human body. I need to explore various news outlets and possibly attend the

public meetings of various governmental agencies to find out about existing and future

laws regarding swimming water. The sensor I will learn how to build is an Arduino run

PPM (parts per million) pollution and conductivity sensor. I will need to program HTML,

Python, and possibly Javascript. I need to use the arcgis software to input data in an

effective way. Most importantly, when my project is finished, I want people to see it.

Therefore, it is important for me to market efficiently and let people share in the

information that I find.

The main 21st century skills that my project will use are: information skills,

communication skill, self directional skills, and civic literacy and engagement. I will use

information skills by researching my topic thoroughly. Additionally, I will apply relevant

computer technology to my project. I have to use communication skills due to the fact

that I will most likely be working with organizations on Maui that do similar work to mine.

I will use self directional skills due to the sheer workload that my project entails. I need

to stay focused and get everything done in the required amount of time. Finally, I will

use civil literacy and engagement because my entire project is made for my community.

Furthermore, I will explore my local government.

There are many setbacks that I can and most likely will face. My biggest setback

goes back to last year. In 2017, I applied for and received chemistry and pollution

monitoring equipment for school. Since then, however, the organization that I worked

with to get the products for our school will now begin charging for us to use them. When

I was first planning my project, I was counting on being able to use the tools that I

acquired for school. However, I have been forced to overcome this adversity and come
 Griffin 5

up with a comparable solution. My idea is too build the tools. This, however, leads me to

more potential setbacks. I am worried that the sensor I am building will not work as I

intended to, or that it won’t be possible to build at all. The instructions I found are over

10 years old, and I have yet to explore if that technology has shifted. Also, I am

expecting the hardest part of my project to be sharing my findings with the community in

the end. This could be a potential set back.

My methodology will be a completed, self programmed website. The website will

have my map and a key to make my findings as easy as possible to understand. I want

there to be a data scale that makes the information easier to understand. People aren’t

going to know what a raw reading means. Additionally, I may have investigative articles

or videos to turn in with my project. These would be completed over the course of my

project, and would further invoke the community’s understanding of my data. Lastly, my

findings will be a part of my methodology.

Annotated Bibliography

“LEARN: Human Health at the Beach.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 26 June

2018, www.epa.gov/beaches/learn-human-health-beach.

This source is a group of national government formed articles delving into the

safety aspects of water at the beach. It’s main idea is to inform the public, and it can be

a useful source for any beginner. The main topics are beach related illnesses, beach

safety, and healthy swimming. This is a starting point for anyone wanting to know more
 Griffin 6

about beach safety, but doesn’t delve as much into the molecular aspects of water

quality.

This source is at the top tier of reliability, as it is .gov website, and provides

insight from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Center of Disease Control

and Prevention. It is useful to an end, with it gazing the surface of an expansive subject.

The author isn’t provided, but whoever wrote the article can be contacted with feedback.

The information is objective, and a resource that the public can use to do their own

research. The site isn’t trying to convince you of anything. Lastly, the target audience is

a general crowd.

I believe I can use this research to help me discover what I should look and

watch out for in my paper and throughout my project. It helps me understand what the

baseline safety is. It also provides insight as to why problems exist, allowing me to have

a more complete overview of the situation that I will be researching.

Indicators for Waterborne Pathogens. National Academy Press, 2004.

This source is a report in the form of a book written by the National Research

Council Committee on Indicators for Waterborne Pathogens. The group of writers

includes 12 experts in the subjects of microbiology, bacteriology, virology, parasitology,

aquatic microbial ecology, microbial risk assessment, water quality standards and

regulations, environmental engineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, detection

methods, epidemiology, and public health. The main idea is expressed by the title. This

publication covers topics such as history of waterborne pathogens, health effects

 Griffin 7

assessments, and many more. Summarized, this book is all about waterborne

pathogens and how to find them.

I believe that this source is extremely useful and reliable. It is written by a

National Committee, which is an author’s equivalent of a .gov website. Also, the book

was recommended by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a government

organization. The authors are all professionals in their fields and from what I can tell, the

book is extremely flat and biased.

I believe that this will be one of my most helpful sources, as It is stuffed full of

information about what my project will be based on finding. I can use this information to

write my argumentative essay and to better prepare myself for when I’m on the ground

collecting information. This information will help me decide what is most harmful about

water, and what my driving question should be.

Boyd, Claude E. Water Quality: an Introduction. Springer, 2016.

This source is a book examining the chemistry of water quality in a broad sense.

It analyzes physical, chemical, and biological factors in doing this. It is a basic book, and

an average college student would be able to read and comprehend the book with no

problems. If someone were to ask me what this source was about, I would say that it’s a

textbook explaining what water quality means, and what water should be if it’s clean and

safe.

The author of this book is Claude Boyd, a Aquaculture and Aquatic Science

professor at Auburn University. I believe that this book would be very useful in
 Griffin 8

introducing me to the topic of comprehensive water quality. From what I’ve read, he’s

teaching the reader, so the book isn’t biased. At the same time, being that he’s a

professor, he is probably a master in his field. This, along with the book’s 19 additional

citations, leads me to believe that it’s a valid source.

I can use this information to start out my consideration of water quality. I believe

that this source will give me a well rounded well of information that might not shift my

driving question, but will certain shift my main argument. It will give my point reason and

make it factual.

“EC/TDS/PPM Meter On Limited Budget.” EC/TDS/PPM Meter,

www.octiva.net/projects/ppm/.

This source is a website built to showcase a tutorial on how to build an

inexpensive total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity meter. These

measurements are both important in finding pollution in a body of water. The tutorial

itself shows you how to build the circuit for the sensor, how to construct the sensor, how

to make a reading solution to see your findings, and how to show what you find on the

computer. There are a list of steps to follow, as well as an update log to see what you

can do better.

While the source doesn’t pull from any research papers or thick books, it is still a

well researched and informed source. The author, giving only her email, comes up with

how to make something new that will assist a person that doesn’t want to buy an
 Griffin 9

expensive sensor. The source is neither objective or biased, as it is a self made tutorial.

The only thing that clearly worries me about the validity of this website is that it looks to

have been made for 2006. This isn’t a huge problem, but technology may have changed

and I don’t want to buy the wrong parts for my circuit board.

This source covers a clear aspect of my driving question and project. I want to

include building a sensor as part of my workload, and this will be my only source telling

me how to do so. Finding this online confirms to me that building my sensor is going to

work. It shows me that this is a good thing for me to do. This is self explanatory, but I

can use this information to test water, gather data, and therefore add to the totality of my

project.

Manley, Paul. Troubled Water. Manly Media, 22 Apr. 2013, youtu.be/onJNkeIKXoE.

This source is a documentary film detailing threats to public water systems in

Vancouver, Canada, and the rest of North America. It is directed, written, and produced

by one person. The film is available for purchase online but is also available in full on

youtube. As well as examining water pollution and contamination, it also researches the

ownership of water and what that means to human rights.

This is seemingly one of the best possible documentaries to watch regarding

water rights and control. Being that it is completely made by one person, there is a

biased lean towards equal water rights, but I believe that this is an important

perspective to consider in my project. The target audience is a young liberal adult, as it

is with many movies on pollution. The person who made this film is obviously seeking
 Griffin 10

change. Overall, the film is well researched and the fact that one of its main directions is

looking at a study makes it a reliable source.

This source introduces a whole new aspect to my project. It showcases water

rights, which is something that I didn’t think about as a driving question or an

argumentative point. My initial project was going to be purely scientific, but I’m intrigued

by this new direction. This source is also helpful to my project due to the fact that it’s

case study looks heavily into sources of water pollution. I believe that I can reflect this

information into my own case study.

Young, Rick. “Poisoned Waters.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 21 Apr. 2009,

www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/poisonedwaters/.

This source is a documentary. More specifically, it’s an episode of the television

docu series Frontline. It is a 2 hour long adventure into America’s clean water act and

what that has resulted in. It’s main idea is to show that America hasn’t cleaned our

waters in the way we have wanted to in the past. It explores current and past perils, as

well as projecting the future.

While this source is technically part of a television series, I still believe that it is

valid and helpful to my project. The network is PBS. Due to their reputation and

obligations to their financiers, I can trust that everything they say is well researched and

accurate. The author of the documentary isn’t clear, but I can tell that it is

knowledgeably worded. This makes me think that the intended audience for this source

is the older crowd that tunes into PBS on a normal basis. Meanwhile, the information is
 Griffin 11

objective, but in the way of a news article. It is up to each watcher to interpret this and

decide if it’s a biased video.

The makers of this documentary thoroughly foray into reasoning behind poor

water quality, which is part of my project and something that I’m interested in. Watching

this documentary will make me better researched and show the reasons behind my

findings. It hasn’t changed my views, but reaffirms my stance that we need to protect

the ocean!

"Board of Water Supply Agendas & Minutes." Maui County, HI - Official Website.

Web. <http://www.mauicounty.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=121>.

This source is a database containing the minutes and agenda of every Maui

Board of Water Supply meeting since the year 2000. The website itself is just a list of

pdfs, but inside the documents is where the quality information is located. For the

Agendas, there is a review of everything the board will talk about for the upcoming

meeting. The minutes of each meeting discuss everything that was talked about during

that time. It addresses everything from specific issues to community concerns.

There is no question in my mind that this is a reliable source. It is a Maui County

Website, and what is their to falsify about the account of a mundane meeting. That

would be illegal. There is a person who attends the meetings just to take notes. The

information is an account, so it’s purely objective. The target audience isn’t anyone in

particular. It’s just for anyone who is searching for it.

I can review the meeting minutes to understand what is currently happening with

water regulations and what has been done in the past. There is so much purdenant
 Griffin 12

information for me to find. The one drawback of this source is that it is technically made

by the Board of Water Supply, and a big part of my project is the ocean, two different

things. However, through researching the documents, I find that they intertwine in many

ways.

Sugidono, Chris. "Nearshore water-quality data collection expanded." The Maui News

12 May. 2018 Web.

This source is an article from the Maui News. It is titled “Nearshore Water-Quality

Data Collection Expanded.” The purpose of this article is to report how the group Hui O

Ka Wai Ola, a volunteer group who test ocean water, recently expanded their testing

sites from 36 to 48 along Maui’s southern and western coasts. Simply put, it’s a news

article exploring a Maui foundation’s new exploits in water quality.

It is commonplace for those who write the news to let their bias slip into their

reporting, but this source looks to be an objective story carved out by the people who

were being interviewed. The author is Chris Sugidono, a staff writer for the Maui News. I

can trust him because of his position at the paper. The intended audience for this piece

is everybody. The Maui News doesn’t aim to please any certain group of people.

Finding this newspaper led me to discovering the group that this article is about. I

think that it would be extremely beneficial to my project if I was able to work with them.

Therefore, reading this news article gave me a new plug of information that I wouldn’t

have had without it. Additionally, this article goes into Maui-specific water problems and

regulations, which can also help me in my research.

 Griffin 13

Faculty Interview Request:

“ Hola Seniora Getzen,

Como Estas? I was wondering whether you'd be willing to look over my senior project with me and give

me some feedback.

I can come by after school anytime if you tell me when and where.

Thanks,

Aidan ”

Expert Interview Request:

“ Aloha,

My name is Aidan Griffin and I am a senior at Kihei Charter School in Kihei, Maui. I'm interested in

volunteering and was wondering if this was the right place to email if I wanted to ask a few questions.

Mahalo,

Aidan ”
 Griffin 14

Resources / Materials Needed

● Testing Sensor, Circuit Materials (Batteries, Diodes, Etc.)

● ArcGIS Program

● Laptop

Budget

Resistors $10

Diodes $3

Rectifiers $5-8

PCB $15

Probe $1

MEDB Subscription (Possibly) TBD

Total will be less than $50 presumably.

Timeline
 Griffin 15

Advisor Meeting

Argume Complet Project/

ProposalFinal Progress Final
- Rough
ntative e Data- Finish Presenta
ResearProposal Essay
Presenta Reflec
Due Due tions Collectio Website tions
tion
ch
Project Due Due
n Due
Topic
Proposal
Finalize
Proposal
Collect
Interview Argum
s entativ Project
e Final Presentation
Reflect
Essay ion

Q2W1
Meet With Advisor / Work on Argumentative Essay / Organize parts

Q2W2
Mentor Meeting / Arg Essay / Build Sensor

Q2W3
Test water in South Maui / Arg Essay

Q2W4
Test water / Arg Essay

Q2W5
Arg Essay / Prepare Presentation

Q2W6
Thanksgiving / Test

Q2W7
Arg Essay Due / Meet with Advisor

Q2W8
Test / Present

Q2W9
Test / Document

Q2W10
 Griffin 16

Test / Document

Q3W1
Test / Document

Q3W2
Test / Document

Q3W3
Organize documentation / Begin mapping

Q3W4
Mapping / Additional testing

Q3W5
Mapping

Q3W6
Build Website

Q3W7
Market Product

Q3W8
Prepare to present / Meet with advisor

Q3W9
Prepare Presentation

Q3W10
Present

Q4W1
Preparing for senior grad defense / sharing with lower grades.

Q4W2
Preparing for senior grad defense / sharing with lower grades.

Q4W3
Preparing for senior grad defense / sharing with lower grades.

Q4W4
Preparing for senior grad defense / sharing with lower grades.

Q4W5
Preparing for senior grad defense / sharing with lower grades.

Q4W6
Grad Defense

Q4W7
Prepare for exhibition
 Griffin 17

Q4W8
Exhibition

Q4W9
Graduation!

Q4W10