The National Academy of Engineering identified “providing access to clean water” as one of the top ten grand challenges for engineering in the 21st century. A central requirement for safe drinking water is the availability of low-cost and real-time water quality monitoring. Current detection methods for critical analytes in water are often too expensive or unsuitable for in-situ and real-time detection. The unmet need is evidenced by the insufficient onsite water quality monitoring along the water distribution line and at the point of use that has led to major catastrophes such as the Flint Water Crisis due to the deterioration in water quality within water distribution systems.
