Bonfire Night will go with a bang for all Croydon residents this year after the council introduced air pollution text alerts to help those who are affected by the heavy smoke.
Fireworks and bonfires are traditional fare of Guy Fawkes' Night on 5 November, but the risks posed by the potential air pollution from the resulting smoke and fumes has prompted Croydon Council to offer SMS alerts that keep local residents informed about air quality.
Under the pilot scheme, citizens with illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and heart disease will be sent text messages via an SMS gateway called Kapow, which is run by Cygnet Internet Services. The alerts will give subscribers health advice on minimising exposure, managing their symptoms and warning them of air quality deterioration.
Bonfire Night is expected to be an ideal opportunity to test the scheme, due to the smoke, fumes and small particles released by people lighting bonfires and letting off fireworks.
The project, called Airtext, is believed to be the first scheme of its kind in the UK. It has been funded from the European Space Agency under its Promote scheme which aims to improve air-quality forecasting using satellite technology.
Under the scheme Croydon residents who sign up for the alerts will receive text warnings of bad air quality 24 hours in advance from the council. These are based on satellite information and sent via an SMS gateway.
The council says it chose a Web-based messaging service because it lets it to deliver bulk or individually targeted text messages very quickly.
Stephen Potter, specialist pollution team manager at Croydon Council said the text alert service had been a success both with staff and residents. "As Airtext is a publicly-funded project, reliability and value are important so we wanted to know that the messages would be delivered quickly and efficiently," Potter said.
The Web-based messaging system gives the council flexibility for any number of staff to work on airtext remotely and send alerts from wherever they are based, Potter added. "Kapow's Web site is logical and easy to use and we have been impressed by Kapow's flexibility and the speed with which it has responded to our needs," he said.
Other organisations currently using Kapow include; Oxford University, Bournemouth University, Brunel University and Cardiff University.
SMS is becoming an increasing feature in local and central government e-projects across the UK. In September 2005 London Mayor Ken Livingstone set up a recycling service via text in an attempt to encourage more people to recycle.
The service enables residents in London to request details of when their recycling is collected or where their nearest recycling facilities are by texting RECYCLE and their full postcode to the number 63131.
