PR91217

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 24, 2021/PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

Eshani Jha from the USA receives the prestigious 2021 Stockholm Junior Water

Prize for research on how to remove contaminants from water. HRH Crown Princess

Victoria of Sweden announced the winner on 24 August during an online award

ceremony as part of World Water Week [https://www.worldwaterweek.org/].

Stockholm Junior Water Prize

[https://www.siwi.org/prizes/stockholmjuniorwaterprize/] is an international

competition where students between the ages of 15 and 20 present solutions to

major water challenges.

The winner Eshani Jha is a student at Lynbrook High School in San Jose,

California. She has done research on how to remove key classes of contaminants

from our freshwater in a simple and cost-effective way. The process involves

replacing active carbon with biochar for use in efficient and cheap water

filters.

"I am honoured to receive this prize, particularly with so many excellent

contributions from around the world. I hope we can work together in the years

to come for a better water world. We really are the future of water-related

science," said Eshani Jha.

The Jury noted that: "water contamination is a growing problem around the

world, with new contaminants discovered and increasing concentrations of

existing pollutants being recorded. The simplicity of this solution is that it

addresses multiple, varied contaminants with a single device, and that device

is potentially scalable to global use, with the added benefit of localized

manufacture."

The winner was announced by HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the Prize's

Official Patron, who also expressed great admiration for all the finalists.

A Diploma of Excellence was awarded to Thanawit Namjaidee and Future Kongchu

from Thailand, for developing a way to use organic waste material for moisture

retention, thereby accelerating plant growth. The People's Choice Award went to

Gabriel Fernandes Mello Ferreira from Brazil for developing a microplastic

retention mechanism for water treatment. Over 55,000 people voted in the

People's Choice Award.

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize has been organized every year since 1997 by

the Stockholm International Water Institute, SIWI, with Xylem as Founding

Partner. This year the event was held online.

"This Prize inspires students - 125,000 of them in 25 years - to propose

solutions to the world's great water challenges," said Xylem CEO, Patrick

Decker. "We're so proud to be a part of it."

For more information: www.siwi.org/prizes.

Press Contact:

Andreas Karlsson

SIWI

+46-720-506004

andreas.karlsson@siwi.org

SOURCE: Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)