SaltCast is a digital salinity management tool that helps protect drinking water safety, sustainable freshwater use, and infrastructure integrity in coastal regions experiencing climate change. SaltCast.io pending...
SaltCast provides ion-specific measurements to deliver actionable information. Current climate modeling tools on the market do not incorporate salinity into their forecast, are not scalable, do not allow for user input manipulation, do not offer corrosion exposure data, and do not forecast beyond a few days.
SaltCast delivers groundbreaking salinity and corrosion data that forecasts from a short 2 months, to an extended climate forecast of up to 100 years. The digital tool leverages data sourced from hydrologic models around the country and uses artificial algorithms to predict levels into the future. We continue to test our data with real water samples to ensure our predictions are accurate.
Many of our users prefer to work from a phone or tablet due to convenience or visibility constraints. Therefore, the web tool is designed to work across devices including phones, tablet and desktops. We developed 5 breakpoints to ensure the most seamless user experience.
SaltCast follows WCAG compliance to a AA standard to ensure accessibility across users of all ages and capabilities.
SaltCast is all about data delivery at a glance. This means custom icons, detailed infographics and large numbers.
Our users requested that the web tool not only deliver data on demand, but also alert the user when certain user specified thresholds have been exceeded. We are in the process of developing the app version of the tool to allow for notification delivery.
SaltCast targets coastal freshwater users and infrastructure planners. More specifically, it targets...
Water suppliers who need to manage salt in their source water
State and regional agencies who need to permit water or land uses
Federal agencies tasked with adapting to climate change
Source water salinization is not new, but accelerating climate change and increasing coastal development are making it an imminent threat to coastal communities. Users will benefit from salinity data in advance that can be used to change water management strategies, select different infrastructure materials or coatings, or change natural resource management structures. Accurate predictions of saltwater intrusion and a decision support system for salinity and corrosion management will increase the resilience of coastal infrastructure, increase water security, and protect public health at a lower cost to the user.
Users create an account by selecting an account type for their specific need. This ranges from a basic or premium account, to API access for users who want to receive raw data into their existing climate modelling tool. SaltCast also offers custom solutions for higher budget users who want a digital tool specific to their company.
After selecting an account type, users are able to adjust their preferences in the form of data units, export formats and forecast ranges. Account types and preference manipulation allows us to deliver simplified interfaces, rather than a single, one-size fits all, complicated tool.
The team interviewed 21 stakeholders and potential users to develop an understanding of their needs. 90.5% of interviewees expressed interest in the project and felt that it would aid them in daily operations. Our users revealed concerns over water quality and salinity intrusion issues and interest in a digital tool to help mitigate these risks.Users were interested in a resource that would bridge the language barriers between scientists and stakeholders, provide both long- and short-term data depending on the need, and offer definitive predictive outputs while allowing for user input manipulation. Moreover, users asked for different account types based on the complexity of need (including an API offering), corrosion exposure data, threshold markers, exact figure graphs, a user friendly and quick interface, and information on different contaminants. Users stressed that the tool should be communicated as a financial resource that will save money, and an automated product (rather than a smart product) to appeal to a wider audience.
The second round of interviews took place with 18 prospective users to provide feedback on the interactive prototype. We were asked to ensure the tool provided mid-term forecasting 1-10 years into the future as this is a currently untouched space. Additional changes included a more advanced API access offering, a custom solutions offering for higher budget users, responsive design across devices, and accessibility design to make the product widely usable. Further changes were to allow user settings to define units, user input for desired salinity range, intake depths, climate scenarios, and multi-location/area data viewing and comparison. We received additional feedback during the in-person workshop that we intend to incorporate in phase2- uncertainty ranges for any concrete figures we provide, “bad” colors to indicate when a threshold has reached a negative stage, user testimonials on the website to show new users the different available pathways, larger threshold numbers to make at-glance data information digestion easier, and a notification alert system.
