From water innovation to public awareness: Winners of Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2024

Competing with thirty other exceptional research projects, including topics such as bioengineering of glacial bacteria, they reflected on their achievement during an interview with WaterFront Daily.  

Jonathan said that “After the initial happiness, with any great achievement comes a lot of responsibility.”   

The goal of their project, PFASolve, was to reduce the cost of detection and filtration of dangerous PFAS or Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water. “Testing is extremely expensive compared to other pollutants,” explained Jonathan. “A single sample can cost 100GBP, which creates a critical lack of data on the presence of PFAS and therefore awareness among people.” 

What people should know about PFAS  

“PFAS are a significant health risk, even in tiny amounts. Just four nanograms can be extremely dangerous—it’s equivalent to a drop or two in an Olympic-sized swimming pool,” continued Christopher. Despite their dangerous nature, PFAS are commonly produced in military and industrial processes and are even found in everyday consumer goods, such as non-stick pans. “People need to be aware that these dangerous chemicals are very present in water.”  

Their project not only investigated PFAS levels in the River Thames but also developed a software tool. This allows users to input their coordinates to get a prediction of the amount of PFAS present in their area. “If the tool establishes that you might be at risk, you can get a filter that we developed for less than 7GBP.” Jonathan highlighted that their invention is very easy to install and does not disrupt the flow of tap water. 

Why media involvement is critical 

The free software is also a powerful communication tool. “It adds a sense of urgency to the problem,” said Jonathan. The winners went on to create pamphlets and are making plans to hand them out to locals in their region. 

However, the students faced challenges in gaining media attention for the PFAS problem before winning the Prize. Christopher explained that “There are already a range of water-related problems in the UK and a lot of the public’s anger is directed towards water sewage treatment failure.”  He hopes that after winning the Prize, they can “create the momentum to make PFAS pollution the scandal that it needs to be.” 

Christopher added that, “It is about the impetus, because when people know about an issue and there is protest on the streets, it creates awareness, and people may write letters to Members of Parliament in the UK. This may force law makers to act and improve regulations against unsafe levels of PFAS. That’s the impact we would like to see.”