World Water Week - UK wins Stockholm Junior Water Prize

CIWEM's UK Junior Water Prize winners have followed their national success by taking international honours at World Water Week.

Christopher Whitfeld and Jonathan Zhao won the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, an international STEM competition aimed at solving environmental challenges in water.

The Eton College students developed an innovative solution to remotely estimate the levels of PFAS. Their geospatial neural network can accurately predict PFAS values of an area to within 10% of experimentally validated values. The team further designed and tested a point-of-use filtration device to be installed on taps in areas showing high PFAS values, which showed a reduction by a startling 93%. “We're scientists, united by the prospect of clean water - especially when seeing how that's threatened by the emergence of PFAS. We seek to combine our passions in natural sciences and computer science for the cause,” the boys told Waterfront Daily, the newsletter of World Water Week.

The students previously won the UK Junior Water Prize (UKJWP), organised by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) in partnership with Jacobs and Arup, and were entered as a result into the international version with an all-expenses-paid trip to Stockholm.

The UKJWP encourages young people to develop innovative research projects that address local, regional, national, or global water issues. Whether based on scientific sciences or social studies, all proposed solutions are welcomed and appreciated.

The competition supports a wide scope of research, from improving water quality to tackling water scarcity and protecting aquatic ecosystems. Both natural science and social studies-based projects are welcomed. Participants can develop essential skills for the future, including research abilities, academic writing, and confident presentation skills.

Their project aims to use PFAS filtration to remove harmful carcinogens from the water in communities across the UK - in particular the Thames Basin.

Global recognition

As part of World Water Week, this global event organsied by SIWI, the Stockholm International Water Institute, brings together young innovators from over 30 countries, all competing for the US$15,000 prize and international recognition.

Last year 15-year-old Vivaan Rajawat of St. Bartholomew’s School in Newbury won the UK Junior Water Prize, you can read more about his experience at World Water Week here.

CIWEM CEO Anna Daroy, who joined the UK pavilion alongside Director of Policy, Alastair Chisholm, and Director of Learning and Organisational Development, Darren Eckford, stated: "We have had the license to operate this prize award for the UK for over a decade. The effort has paid off.

Our two prize winners had an amazing PFAS carbon filter innovation that impressed all the judges and out shone all other 30 countries that entered.

Well done especially to Marieke who has tirelessly run this award and been there this week with our two student prize winners. This will be a big attraction for many other junior innovators for next year and we will also be looking at creating a runners up prize within the UK."

Marieke Muller, Sr. Partnerships Executive at CIWEM who has played a key role throughout the competition's process, added: "I'm so proud of their work and excited to see how Jonathan and Christopher will develop their project and research in further steps. Huge thanks to Arup and Jacobs, who have supported the UK Junior Water Prize, and to SIWI and Xylem for organising the international competition."

Finally, CIWEM's Director of Learning and Organisational Development also said: "I had the pleasure this week of attending the UK Pavilion at Stockholm International Water Institute's World Water Week , on behalf of CIWEM. We were all absolutely thrilled to see Jonathan and Christopher take international recognition in receiving the Stockholm Junior Water Prize from patron HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

"I'm certain this is only the beginning of highly successful careers for them both within the water world."

Interested in how Christopher and Jonathan's approached their project? You can find it hosted on the SIWI website and they also created a pitch video.