A farmstead drinking water quality decision support system
Abstract
A prototype decision support system (DSS) has been developed to provide educational and analytical services in the area of private well drinking water quality. As most private wells are located on farmsteads, this DSS focuses on rural water quality issues. Educational and analytical services are provided through a combination of expert system and hypertext programming techniques. This combination was selected to improve the ability of the system to meet varying end user knowledge levels and information needs. The DSS has a modular format. Prototyping has focused on the definition of the DSS structure and the development of program modules for inclusion within the analytical section. Eleven risk assessment modules and one educational module were developed. Ten of the risk assessments predict future risk of water contamination from specific sources common to farmsteads. The eleventh diagnoses current water pollutants on the basis of local activities and sensory clues of contamination. The educational module has a tutorial format. Initial evaluation of the DSS consisted of a risk assessment effectiveness test and a user appeal survey. Tests were conducted using the pesticide storage and handling risk assessment program from the DSS and worksheet #2 from the Farm-A-Syst package. Forty seven extension agents, farmers, and students analyzed two test case farms using these assessment tools. Their results were compared to average risk ratings assigned to the test cases by of a panel of ten experts. There was no significant variation in results between participant groups. Differences arose due to the assessment tool used. Program results varied less often from the experts' than did worksheet results. When differences arose, the program more often over estimated risk in comparison to the experts rating than did the worksheet. Participants found the program easier to use and had higher confidence in the results obtained with this tool than with the worksheet. All participants felt the program to be better suited for educational purposes. Farmers and extension agents felt the worksheet was a better tool for "real life" risk assessments while the students slightly favored the program.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Engel, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Agricultural engineering|Artificial intelligence|Environmental science
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