Sign up for a training session below. We will teach you how to use these tools, how the volunteer program works, and the importance of your volunteer contribution.

About Gassy and the ‘big monster’

The ‘big monster’ is an AI (artificial intelligence) that is honing its skills at sewage, pollution, and people counting. By ‘eating’ photos the beta sewage detector learns how to recognize different kinds of objects and counts what it sees, giving us an accurate tally of what people are seeing in the places they visit the water. Both Gassy and the beta sewage detector help us to collect data, finding patterns in the photos you submit. These patterns can help us identify problem areas, teach us about how people are using the water in different communities, and ultimately guide us to solutions that will ensure more people are able to access water without putting their health at risk.

Why we need your help

This is a beta web application meaning that it is still in the development stages. By signing up for a training session and volunteering to collect and submit photos you are essentially getting a peak under the hood and helping us develop a better tool.

We need your help collecting photos and accurately submitting them to the detector for two reasons:

1. We need more data, and this is really the most important part. These photos are data that will ultimately help us identify trends around pollution and recreational water use, and be added to our final reports. 

2. We need more photos!

The actual photo collection and submission can be started and completed at any time. There is no set schedule and you can complete this activity when it’s convenient for you. You could take photos during your daily walk and submit them all at the end of the week. Or if you rather you can take photos and submit them in the field as you spot things. We don’t have any minimum requirements for pictures taken and we will receive as many photos as you’re willing to submit. The only requirement is accuracy of the information when the photo is submitted.

Not only are we in need of your help to collect this information, we also want to get your feedback. After volunteers have had a chance to collect photos and use the tool, we will be following up with everyone who has participated to hear your thoughts and experiences with it.

Sign up for training

Please sign up using the form below. You will be emailed the login information two days prior to the training date you signed up for. We will be using Google Meets to host the training sessions. No preparation is required but using a computer or tablet to access Google Meets is recommended to be able to better see the presentation.

If you have any comments or questions don’t hesitate to reach out to Jessica at jessica@swimdrinkfish.ca

We hope to see you there!