The Operative HydroSensus (OHS) project is designed to establish a new relationship between urban residents and their public waters. The OHS is a floating platform that combines bio-mimicry components to improve water quality with sensory technology that measures improvement and broadcasts it on multiple channels. Through a framework of communication and education the OHS will create a way for users to ‘talk to the river’ – receiving immediate information and understanding the effects that changes in the built environment such as catchment basins and green roofs can have on the health of the urban ecosystem.

HOW IT WORKS
Submerged sensors measuring levels of dissolved oxygen in the water will be connected to an open-source microcontroller. The data will be transmitted using cellular network, by demand (e.g. a text message sent to the OHS) as well as on a continuous basis using a web 2.0 site that provides publicly accessible data logging and sharing services. LED lights mounted on the OHS will indicate water conditions on a scale of red to green for site visitors.
Using a light bamboo structure this communication framework will be connected to bio-remediation platforms such as floating wetlands and oyster beds to clean the water and revive the ecosystem. The OHS landscape will perform as a temporary waterfront, generating interest and providing access to the water.

In the second phase additional OHS units containing independent remediation components will be assembled and launched in various sites around NYC in collaboration with local communities to create a more complete image of water conditions and suggest a new approach for temporary waterfront design.