An 11-year-old Indian-origin student has won America’s top young scientist award for her invention- a water testing device.
Geetanjali Rao's project Tethys, named after the Greek goddess of water- a sensor-based device that tests water for lead contamination faster than any other device currently available in the market, was developed after she saw her parents running a lab test on water from their new home.
Geetanjali says she was inspired to develop her device by the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
“I knew that Flint wasn’t the only place. With lead-contaminated water, there are over 5000 water systems in the US,” she said.
“When I saw my parents run a test on their water, I said this isn’t a reliable process and I wanted to help not only my parents but also other residents of Flint and other places,” the seventh-grader added.
Rao thought there had to be a better way to test the water and came up with her device that won her the 10th annual Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, and a prize of $25,000 last month.
WATCH: 11-year old Gitanjali Rao is America's Top Young Scientist, inventing a device to detect lead in water - check her out! #girlpower pic.twitter.com/kn4qUoNuFi — Good Morning America (@GMA) October 23, 2017
Her device offers a simple test that makes testing water quicker. It uses carbon nanotubes containing chloride elements that when dipped in lead-contaminated water attract lead molecules. The data from this device is then sent to a mobile phone application for analysis and the colour-coded results denote the quality of water.
The device is portable and easy to use, and Rao hopes to help solve the water contamination crisis and decrease health effects caused by lead exposure.
Gitanjali says she wants to be an epidemiologist or a geneticist.
She plans to spend the $25,000 prize money on improving her device to make it available in the market for more people to use to test the water.
