Greater Jackson Mobile Community Water Watch

Students and faculty at the Brown University School of Public Health in Providence, Rhode Island, and The Piney Woods School in Rankin County, Mississippi are currently operating both mobile and door-to-door FREE tap water testing in Greater Jackson. This high-school student run lab is testing community tap water for dissolved oxygen, pH, toxicity, and turbidity and educating residents on what is in their water. Upon request, you can have your water tested for other contaminants, including lead.

Watch as The Piney Woods Students explain water contamination!

Your Results Report

Within a month of you having your water tested, you will receive a postcard sized community tap water report card and a detailed report summarizing your findings. This detailed report is broken into three sections. The first section will provide you with your results, complete a definition of each test and permissible limits as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency. The second section contains a bar chart that summarizes the findings of all samples taken as of the date of participation. We also provide additional resources that you can read for information as well as information on how to participate in other aspects of our research, such as air pollution, noise pollution, and visual pollution.

Why are we testing your tap water

Beyond our belief that clean water is a basic human right and that you should be informed about the water quality in your community, as both Jacksonians and Mississippians, we know that we are often left out of ANY conversations about our environment and how it may impact our health and well-being. This research gives you a voice and a seat at the table!

Our testing calendar!

We will be hosting mobile tap water testing sites and door-to-door drives throughout Greater Jackson between now and the end of 2023. To find out where we are, daily, you can visit our community calendar right HERE.

Participate in Other Aspects of our Study

We are conducting a large-scale study of air pollution, noise pollution, visual pollution, and environmental quality perception in Greater Jackson, Mississippi. You could further participate in this study by:

Submitting a sample of water for lead testing (Free to you)
Hosting an outdoor air pollution and weather station monitor at your home for a week (earn $25)
Hosting an indoor air pollution monitor at our home for a week (earn $25)
Hosting an outdoor noise monitor for a week (earn $10)
Taking a survey to assess your perception of your community’s environmental quality (earn $20)

If you are interested in participating in any of these other aspects of our study, you can fill out this form and a member of our research team will reach out to you.

Community Noise Lab Research

Community Noise Lab is a research lab at the Brown University School of Public Health. It was founded by Dr. Erica Walker, an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Brown School of Public Health. Dr. Walker was also born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. She is currently working in Mississippi to understand how and to what extent noise, air pollution, and water quality impact the health and well-being of communities in Greater Jackson. She believes in environmental justice; impactful, meaningful, and transparent community engagement; and leaving things better than we find them. She is currently working with Dr. Cristina Nica’s high school students at The Piney Woods School to measure tap water quality in Greater Jackson. She is also working with other students across the Mississippi to measure other aspects of environmental quality in their communities. If you have any additional comments or concerns, please feel free to contact us

------>