Pastor Bill Devlin

Pastor Bill Devlin has taken up many humanitarian efforts across the globe. His efforts have reached places such as Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, Gaza, and NYC. We met with him to talk about his efforts building a school in Africa. We have donated $1000 to his cause and urge others to take a look at his website and consider contributing.

https://livereckless.info

Turbidity Tube test

We were recently interested in measuring turbidity around creeks in our area, so we purchased a turbidity tube online and went out to make some measurements. We soon realized the tube was of no use as the creeks we visited were very small and generally had extremely clear water. So, we will be purchasing an electronic unit to get some real results.


Turbidity is a measurement of water clarity. Turbidity is the degree to which light penetration is blocked by suspended solids. Suspended solids are the materials suspended in the water (soil, sediment, algae, etc.) and affect how deeply light can penetrate.


Excessively turbid water can block sunlight, cause habitat loss, and make it hard for predators to find prey. Also turbid water can impact recreational water use. Sediments fill in spaces between cobbles that is important habitat for aquatic life and may smother fish eggs.


Turbidity may be affected by seasons, such as increased runoff during snowmelt or large rain events. Human activities can increase erosion potential in the watershed and cause the turbidity to increase. Riparian plants along the banks play an important role to increase bank stability and reduce erosion. Large amounts of suspended plant materials such as algae may also increase turbidity.



LA River

I went out to take a look at what the current state of the LA River is. The LA river was concretized in the 1930s due to extreme flooding and damage. The river was prone to flooding which resulted in the great flood of 1862, 1938 and many others. Now, the river is completely concrete except for a trickle of water through the middle. The river is severely polluted due to the amount of industrialization and development around it. Projects are in place to revitalize the river in ways that minimize the flood risk, while also providing green space for all of Los Angeles to explore. I am extremely excited to see where these projects go in the future.

Here is the plan for anybody interested.

http://lariver.org/blog/la-river-ecosystem-restoration

These photos are from the Glendale area where there is some vegetation still in the river. Largely, the river is completely concrete.

Recycled t-shirt fundraising

We are in the process of releasing t-shirts which are made from recycled plastic bottles. The shirts will be a blend of 65% recycled cotton and 35% recycled polyester. We are extremely excited to be releasing a sustainable product like this from which we can raise funds for donation and research to ultimate protect and serve our fresh water sources.

Here is an early mockup.

Screen Shot 2019-11-02 at 9.37.24 AM.png

Neural Network and App plans

Earlier I wrote about our plans to utilize a neural network in the prediction of water quality throughout rivers and streams. I have done some more research since then so I will lay out some of our updated hopes and concerns. I have had some doubts about the amount of data we would need to build a model that can accurately predict water quality. Reading a few papers calmed my anxiety on that front slightly but I am still actively working on finding ways to incorporate larger data sets, which often provide a more accurate model.

As of right now I hope to leverage drone footage and iPhone footage coupled with water quality testing in order to build our model. Best case scenario would be a model that can accurately predict water quality through either drone or iPhone footage. Drone footage would allow organizations and park departments to deploy drones and capture imagery of areas that may not be easily accessible. iPhone footage through a future 4freshwater app, geotagged, would allow constant monitoring of water quality.

Updates to follow.

1*oc1gaCFvgWXq_gHQFM63UQ.png

Wissahickon Creek

My mom and I visited the Wissahickon Creek while I was home for the weekend. It was a very nice day so we brought one of our prototype bags to collect trash with. What’s appealing is that there are multiple trash cans located around the trail but you can still find people littering literally 5 feet away from a trash can. Seems like symptoms of a much deeper rooted problem.

The 4FreshWater Backpack

I’m in the process of developing a 4FreshWater backpack. I first got interested in doing this because I came across a material called Tyvek, which is 100% recyclable and waterproof. I thought it would be a great idea to make a backpack out of it to sell and then donate the profits. Here is some information on Tyvek,

https://www.dupont.com/tyvekdesign/design-with-tyvek/tyvek-sustainability.html

https://www.dupont.com/products-and-services/fabrics-fibers-nonwovens/protective-fabrics/brands/tyvek/articles/tyvek-advancing-sustainability.html

And here is a EARLY mockup of the backpack design.

14352713328.jpg

Artificial Neural Network Research Project

Recently I had the thought that we should work on implementing AI into conservation biology. Prior research has shown that AI is great with visual data and can make classifications and predictions on par with experts. That is why I reached out to my professor and asked if she had any ideas about what the potential could be. She suggested that we could use drone footage to predict water turbidity levels. Turbidity levels can be generalized as the hazy or cloudiness of water. However, these levels can have various severe impacts on the ecosystem of the water. There is a way to test this by hand but this is not always possible and cost efficient. If we can get a large enough sample of hand measurements, and drone footage of those same locations, I think we have a good chance at developing a neural network that can do a lot of good. My brother, Roshan Amir, is very interested in AI and will be the one who is going to work on this for the most part. We are very excited about this and hope to make some strides within the next six months.

Here are some related articles for more information:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283526229_Artificial_Neural_Network_Approach_for_Predicting_the_Water_Turbidity_Level_Using_Optical_Tomography

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11269-013-0487-9

hand_holding_turbid_water.jpg

Hong Kong WWF Research

Earlier this year in January I submitted an independent research proposal to the NSF in conjunction with a teacher I had in the fall of 2018, Professor Cheryl Swift. The research proposal proposed a study of an invasive species threatening an ecosystem in a nature preserve in Hong Kong, the Mai Po Nature Reserve. This nature reserve is administered by the World Wildlife Fund Hong Kong (WWF Hong Kong), Professor Swift had a previous relationship with them which allowed us to conduct research on their premises. Once the proposal was accepted we had to come up with a schedule and decided on being in Hong Kong from May 21-Jun 5.

While in Hong Kong we stayed in a city called Tai Po. WWF Hong Kong has a house they operate there which was formerly the governor’s home. We were allowed to stay in the house for the duration of the stay which was extremely kind of WWF Hong Kong. Our research entailed mapping and measuring the extent of the invasion of Mikania micrantha. Over two weeks we took a multitude of measurements and are now processing that data so that we may create a report. I am also going to be presenting this research at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate research this fall.

Overall the trip was a great success and I really enjoyed visiting Hong Kong and appreciating some of its nature. This trip opened my eyes in many ways, but I think the most important thing I saw was the dedication of WWF Hong Kong in protecting their country’s nature. Even though they may not have the best technology or the most manpower, they were throughly determined to do whatever it took to protect their country. This showed me that perhaps the most powerful environmental organizations are local ones. There is nobody who understands the needs of an area like its own citizens. Which also makes me feel better about the structure of 4FreshWater. I hope to revisit Hong Kong sometime as it was one of my favorite places I’ve been to.

Mt. Baldy Trailhead

Today my friend Nathan decided to take us up to the Mt. Baldy Trailhead. It’s located in the Angeles National Forest and I had only been there once before so I thought it would be a good hike. The whole park is beautiful and the full hike took about six hours but was definitely worth it. The park is surprisingly pristine given the amount of people present. We also got to see a beautiful waterfall early on but couldn’t quite capture the magic in a photo. On the way back I was completely out of water and we happened to come across a small mountain stream and the water was ALMOST better than Aquafina. Anyway, I think this was a great location and plan to make a return visit with a group of people to possible find some areas to clean up.

APPNA Picnic

The annual APPNA picnic was held at Core Creek Park in Langhorne, PA. It was organized by a group of adults including my parents who also enlisted my brother and I’s help. The picnic was mainly focused on everybody enjoying some good food and music. The kids took part in some football and basketball games during the time. My brother and I raffled off a pair of Apple AirPods to raise money for 4FreshWater. We ended up raising $200 which will go straight towards donations and funding our independent research.

APPNA Banquet

At the annual APPNA (Association of Pakistani Physicians) banquet I had a table with information about the organization and how people could help. I was away at college in Southern California at the time but my little brother and cousin were able to hold it down for the night. The banquet was a success in that we were able to alert more people about the rising threats to freshwater security. We were also able to collect emails of those who would like to join the organization. My parents also had the opportunity to speak with a few politicians about the organization and they were thrilled to hear about it and find out how they could help.

Becoming a Swim Guide affiliate

An organization called Swim Guide runs a website where they get people to test water in areas all over the country. They mainly test water where people swim in such as at beaches, lakes, waterfalls and some rivers. I was interested in becoming an affiliate because I really admire their work and noticed that there wasn’t anybody working with swim guide in eastern PA. The closest locations were around the Jersey Shore and the Hudson River. So I contacted them and am planning to have a chat with them soon so that we can get started and help out the cause.

Hawks Falls Visit

We brought a few friends out to a great waterfall located in Hickory Run State Park in the Poconos near Lake Harmony. The waterfall is called Hawks fall and there is a short mostly downhill trail to reach it. Considering that many people come here to jump and swim we wanted to check it out and we were not disappointed. We want to revisit this waterfall to test the water quality and bacteria levels and make sure that it is safe for people to swim in.

Poquessing Creek clean up

I went back to check up on some new areas of the Poquessing Creek after the recent snow fall. The creek looked beautiful cascaded in the snow and also because there was no trash to be seen! This is a mostly remote creek so not many people come to it very often. My first few visits encompassed me picking up a lot of trash but after that it seems that I can't find anymore and seeing the creek spotless gave me a great feeling of accomplishment.