Water scarcity and pollution are one of the biggest environmental problems before humanity today.
Part of the global crusade to fight water pollution are Haaziq Kazi and Gitanjali Rao, two young inventors who have come up with innovative new solutions to detect lead contamination and take care of ocean waste, respectively.
The two were in Mumbai to present their inventions at the TEDxGateway conference, held on 2 December.
“So I took a step back and looked at the big problem, that not many people know that what they’re drinking contains lead.
So I came up with the idea of creating an easy-to-use device to detect lead in water.” Called Tethys, after the Titan goddess of fresh water, Rao’s device uses carbon nanotube sensors to detect lead contamination, and informs you of the results almost instantly through a custom app.
Developed with the help of research specialist Kathleen Shafer at 3M, a US-based corporation operating in the fields of industry, health care, and consumer goods, and Selene Hernandez-Ruiz, water quality lab manager at Denver Water, Rao has funded her research with help from The Female Quotient, a female-owned business committed to advancing equality in the workplace through collaboration, as well as with the $50,000 (around ₹35 lakh) that she has won in cash prizes over the last year and a half.
“We’re on track for it to cost ₹300 in bulk, with the cartridges costing around ₹10,” she says.
“The device currently only detects lead but the technology can be adapted to detect any other contaminants in water.” Pune-based Kazi, 12, was inspired to create ERVIS—a ship that aims to suck waste floating on the ocean surface—after watching a documentary on the amount of plastic waste in the ocean.
“Then the folks at TED-Ed in New York called me to present my idea, so I made a more feasible and hydrodynamic model for that.” Kazi has been working with designers and engineers to create a testing prototype of the ship, with the project being funded by his father.
“I want to make ERVIS a platform where like-minded innovative people can come and contribute,” he says.