Seedlabs

ConduitShare: Karst Spring Screening from Existing Gage Data

Software that uses existing water records to tell utilities how quickly pollution could travel through limestone aquifers.

A software service that analyzes a water utility's existing spring-flow and water-chemistry records to score how much of a carbonate (karst) aquifer's water moves through fast conduits versus slow rock pores — telling utilities how quickly contamination could arrive and what protection tier to apply.

Earth and Planetary SciencesKarst Systems and Hydrogeology
Urban Stormwater and Fluid ManagementMunicipal drinking-water source protection in karst regions

Concept

A cloud-based screening service for water utilities, counties, and consultants whose supplies come from carbonate (karst) aquifers. The user uploads 1–3 years of data the utility already collects — spring or well discharge plus specific conductance (optionally turbidity and temperature) — and the service applies the hydrograph and hydrochemograph separation techniques compiled in [0] to quantify the split between fast conduit flow, fracture flow, and slow matrix storage at that source. The deliverable is a one-page classification per spring or well: (a) the dominant flow component and fast-flow fraction, (b) an estimated band of contaminant travel times from the recharge area, and (c) a protection tier with concrete follow-ups (e.g., "conduit-dominated — days-scale travel, treat as surface water, install turbidity/conductivity early warning at the spring" vs. "matrix-dominated — weeks-to-months travel, conventional wellhead zoning suffices"). The single wedge: convert routine gage records into a defensible conduit-vs-matrix classification that drives protection zoning, treatment triggers, and monitoring placement — before any expensive drilling or dye testing.

Why now

The new volume [0] establishes hydrograph and hydrochemograph evaluation and the critical evaluation of matrix, fracture, and conduit components of flow and storage as the recognized toolkit for carbonate aquifers — the methods are mature and compiled in the literature, yet today they are performed manually by a small pool of karst specialists. The book's framing — that caves and channels create "complex flow pathways and unpredictable contaminant behaviour" — is precisely the uncertainty this screening resolves at low cost from data utilities already have. Utilities on karst supplies currently lack a cheap first-pass answer to "how fast could a spill reach our spring," and this productizes the compiled methods into exactly that answer.

Written by GLM · 12 Oct 2026

AI assessment

Backed by 1 paper92

A high-utility, low-friction software tool that productizes established hydrogeological methods to provide critical risk assessments for water utilities using existing data.

Evidence strength
5/5
The idea directly implements the hydrograph and hydrochemograph separation techniques explicitly detailed in the provided research volume for carbonate aquifers.
Market pull
4/5
Municipal water utilities in karst regions have a high urgency to understand contaminant travel times for regulatory compliance and public safety.
Novelty & moat
4/5
While similar to other 'screening' ideas in the catalog, it applies a unique hydrochemical mechanism to a distinct user base (water utilities) and fills a gap in automated karst analysis.
Feasibility
5/5
The MVP requires only the implementation of existing mathematical formulas and data parsing of standard gage records, requiring no new field hardware.
Wedge clarity
5/5
The wedge is exceptionally sharp: converting existing routine gage records into a defensible protection tier classification.
Simplicity / focus
5/5
The product is a single-purpose screening tool with a clear input (gage data) and a clear output (classification report).

Scored by Gemma 4 · 12 Oct 2026. Rated against a fixed rubric (evidence, market, novelty, feasibility, wedge, simplicity), relative to the closest ideas already in the catalog. A prior estimate to compare ideas before real-world signal arrives.

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Who benefits

  • Edwards Aquifer Authorityorganization

    Manages the karst Edwards Aquifer supplying ~2 million Texans; conduit-dominated flow from the recharge zone to springs and wells is its central protection problem, and a low-cost screening from existing spring gage data directly supports its aquifer-protection and springflow mandates.

  • San Antonio Water Systemorganization

    Pumps drinking water from the karst Edwards Aquifer; travel-time bands from the screening would set source-water protection priorities and treatment triggers for storm-driven contaminant pulses.

  • Kentucky Geological Surveyorganization

    Serves karst groundwater data in one of the most conduit-dominated US states; a standardized screening tool would let it convert counties' existing spring records into protection classifications.

  • Arcadiscompany

    Global water consultancy that would run the screening as a fast first-pass deliverable for municipal and industrial clients on carbonate aquifers, before commissioning drilling or tracer programs.

Research it builds on

  1. Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport in Carbonate Aquifers
    Ira D. Sasowsky, Carol M. Wicks · 2026 · 110 citations
    All ideas from this paper →
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