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finalists 2011 stockholm junior water prize argentina australia belarus canada chile china cyprus france germany israel italy japan latvia mexico netherlands norway republic of korea russian federation singapore slovak republic south africa sri lanka sweden turkey ukraine united kingdom united states vietnam kholm ju oc n st ater pri ze rw io 9 6 2011 19

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the stockholm junior water prize each year the international stockholm junior water prize competition brings together the world s brightest young scientists to encourage their continued interest in water and the environment each of the finalists represented in stockholm are the champions of national competitions with thousands of participants entering unique projects in 30 countries this year we are very proud to celebrate our 15th anniversary of the prize and welcome the winners of national competitions in argentina australia belarus canada chile china cyprus france germany israel italy japan latvia mexico netherlands norway republic of korea russian federation singapore slovak republic south africa sri lanka sweden turkey united kingdom ukraine usa and vietnam after 15 years we have learned that brilliant young minds can find inspiration in some unlikely places ingenious teams from the world over have shown how to clean water and protect marine environments with everything from oysters to eggshells they also see opportunity and hope where most find challenges and developed solutions that are cost-efficient immediate and applicable the world over in this catalogue you can learn more about the innovative research that earned each of the 2011 finalists a chance to compete for this international honor during their time in stockholm all of the finalists have the special opportunity to meet and learn from the present leaders of the global water community and make life-long friendships with international compatriots who share a passion for water and science this includes a once-in-a-lifetime chance to receive the international prize from h.r.h crown princess victoria of sweden during an exciting ceremony which will be held this year on tuesday august 23 you also have the opportunity to meet this next generation of water leaders by visiting their booths in the exhibition area t the water challenges they face will be more intense intricate and expansive than ever before looking at the work that has brought to stockholm they have created a compelling case to show they are up to the task about the stockholm junior water prize competition the competition is open to young people between the age of 15 and 20 who have conducted water-related projects focusing on local regional national or global topics of environmental scientific social or technological importance the international winner receives a usd 5,000 award and a prize sculpture as a result of the competitions thousands of young people around the world become interested in water h.r.h crown princess victoria of sweden is the patron of the stockholm junior water prize itt corporation is the global sponsor of the stockholm junior water prize the international jury the international jury includes experts within the field of water who by committee consensus appoint the winner of the international final the decision is based on the written report a short presentation of the display material and interviews with the finalists the stockholm water foundation board appoints the jury members the 2011 international jury members are dr fredrik moberg chair sweden mr björn von euler usa ms charlotte de fraiture ghana ms eileen o´neill usa dr piet lens netherlands ms susana sandoz bolivia mr alex simalabwi sweden and ms helene brinkenfeldt secretary siwi sweden 2

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index argentina austr alia belarus canada chile china kholm ju c to n s ater pri w ze r io 4 4 4 5 6 6 france isr ael i ta ly japan germany l at v i a mexico netherlands n o r way republic of kore a r us si a n f ed er at i o n slovak republic south africa sri l ank a sweden turkey ukraine united kingdom unit ed s tat e s vietnam 19 singapore 9 6 2011 7 8 8 8 9 10 10 10 11 12 12 13 12 14 14 14 15 15 16 16 16 3 cyprus 6

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the 2011 finalists argentina removing arsenic by edgardo agustin devia felipe badin and lautaro molinengo the argentinian team s research on groundwater samples in the city of leones showed that arsenic levels in the water was dangerously high 106.6 g.l-1 and well above what is considered safe for consumption by the world health organization 10 g.l-1 to address the problem they compared the effectiveness of two methods to remove arsenic solar oxidation soras and heterogeneous photocatalysis with titanium dioxide they found that soras treatment was able to remove 94 per cent of arsenic and was significantly more effective than the more commonly applied method of photocatalysis with titanium dioxide they concluded that soras is an inexpensive readily available and easy to use solution for people to remove arsenic from drinking water at home australia does phosphate runoff from golf courses contribute to eutrophication in adjacent water bodies by mathuja bavanendrakumar this study investigated whether phosphate runoff from golf courses contributes to eutrophication in adjacent waterbodies seven golf courses with internal lakes were randomly selected in the gold coast and for each a water body wit in a one kilometer radius was chosen it was found that all internal lakes in the golf courses and adjacent natural waterbodies tested had eutrophication occurring in them indicating moderate to high risk of algal toxication moreover five out of seven golf course internal lakes and three out of seven of the adjacent water bodies had excessive phosphate concentrations which indicates that runoff from golf courses were likely contributing to the eutrophication the study concluded that reduced fertiliser use on golf courses could lessen local euthrophication belarus the role of water in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on degraded peatlands by vera parvatava this project investigated the relationship between agricultural practices in peatlands and their corresponding greenhouse gas emissions using an assessment tool to link vegetation types and mean water level fluctuation with annual emission factors the belarusian finalist was able to calculate the emission reduction potential of rewetting the land in the 329 hectares surveyed emissions ranged between 8,5 and 24 tonnes of co2 equivalent per year and totaled nearly 6000 tonnes co2 over the entire area the project estimates that rewetting the entire territory could save over 3000 tonnes of co2 per year national organiser and sponsors aidis argentina aysa itt flygt argentina ecopreneur sudamericana de aguas enersystem agua de los andes aguas cordobesas apra and epas mendoza national organiser and sponsors itt water and wastewater sa water and allconnex water national organiser and sponsor coca-cola beverages belarus 4

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canada the hazards of nanosilver uncovered by shayla larson and adam noble the canadian project examined the effects of nanosilver an increasingly common commercial and industrial antimicrobial agent on euglena this photosynthetic protozoan may represent an indicator of the potential impact of nanosilver on living organisms in fresh water ecosystems results of this study indicated that absorbed nanosilver is toxic to euglena cells and can result in structural and functional changes and cell death national organiser and sponsors weao cwwa wcwa reseau bcwwa acwwa itt water and wastewater ca photo edelpix nada stockholm gamla stan old town vi o u wi n s ne r 2010 pr e 5

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chile cleaning the ocean from oil contamination with feathers and bacteria by rolf sommer catalán and bruno león campos cabrera accidents involving oil pollution in the ocean require strategic planning and responses the chilean team s research highlighted potential solutions bird feathers can be used as strong adsorbents of contaminants which combined with a newly isolated strain of bacterium corynobacterias can metabolise contaminants and clean water contaminated by oil china water dog ­ reservoir cleaning controller by mengdi liao jianwen li and shiyu shi cyprus turn your grey water into green in the shower by alexandros constantinou and maria ioannou the cyprian finalists personal experience with strict water restrictions in their home country inspired them to look for smarter ways to get more out of the water they use at home using existing green technology they developed a system that enables bath water to be recycled reused and come out at the desired temperature the design is financially viable user-friendly easy to install saves water and reduces energy consumption they claim that their system can help improve access to clean water boost local economies through green investment and help cyprus meet the eu co2 emission standards the chinese team invented a new cleaning and monitoring system for reservoirs the water dog the water dog is a low cost accurate easy to operate unmanned operation that can monitor water quality in real time and its use is completely pollution free the system is also flexible where any district can set individual thresholds to match the targeted water standards in their local area national organiser and sponsors chilean chapter of the international hidrological programme and the general water directoral of the chilean government aguas andinas homecenter sodimac nestlé colbún aidis alhsud and sochid national organiser and sponsors center for environmental education and communications of ministry of environment protection of china itt corporation and guangdong experimental high school in guangdong p.r china national organiser and sponsors water museum of lemesos hellenic bank pricewaterhousecoopers ltd ie muhanna co actuarial services and phileleftheros newspaper n chi a vi o u wi n s 6 ne r 2006 pr e

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france sediments in seyne how do sediments release in seawater by laura cerdan julia bastos reinaldo and kenza bouaziz plans to renovate the harbor of la seyne on the mediterranean shore have been delayed several times due to the presence of sediments that prevent dredging removing the sediments however would release a significant amount of pollution into the seawater faced with this dilemma the french team conducted a series of experiments developed new analysis possible measures and potential solutions for clean dredging and initiated a public awareness campaign to educate local stakeholders on the issue national organiser and sponsors ecology sustainable development transportation and housing department of france seine normandy water agency itt france veolia water and hydroplus stockholm sergels torg sergel square photo edelpix 7

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germany preventing eutrophication ammonium as an abiotic factor in the ecosystem tide-elbe by mathias dehn and jasper feine israel sowp-dts ­ solar water purification using a drop technology system by maya braun and avishai ketko i t a ly an aquarium under the microscope a study of zooplankton in a resurgence environment reproduced in a laboratory by umberto lavagnolo the quality of water and quality of life for its many guests is largely determined the composition of micro-organisms in the water body this project replicated the aquatic environment found in a natural resurgence in verona italy in a laboratory and performed tests to study how possible changes to the environment caused by human activities can impact the biological balance of the water body it was able to link the presence of certain species to specific water characteristics which the author concludes can be identified as biological indicators ammonium a component of agricultural fertiliser is produced during the bacterial decomposition of organic material and is found in human and animal feces high ammonium concentrations is a common problem seen in many rivers that are subject to intensive human use such as the elbe this project measured the spatial and seasonal variations in ammonium concentrations in the tide-elbe in 2010 and their implications on eutrophication found in various areas found in the river hundreds of millions of people lack access to safe drinking water it is one of the most pressing problems faced by humanity the israeli team designed a water purification device that uses sunlight to disinfect water through detailed analysis of the geometric properties of the water drop and applied understanding of the laws of optics they were able to create a device that is able to concentrate uv radiation from the sun onto the water trap uv energy within each water drop and ultimately result in clean water the technology uses renewable solar energy is inexpensive and has a wide spread applicability in areas most in need national organiser and sponsors dr kock prof dr elsholz gymnasium hochrad university of applied sciences in hamburg and university of hamburg national organiser and sponsors the faculty of engineering at tel aviv university the raquel and manuel klachky fund the mellanox technologies company and the water authority national organiser and sponsors fast foist aica flygt intel high patronage presidente della repubblica italiana patronage governo italiano minidtero dell istruzione ministro per le politiche europee ministro della gioventù regione lombardia cooperation of cusmibio inaf milset europe netpoleis ssp and ugis g er many vi o u wi n s 8 ne r 1998 pr e

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japan forging information networks to face a silent threat addressing alien species in water environments by daichi ogata mikage aoki and miki nakajima the japanese team researched the causes for the expansion of two alien species in their local water environment asian clams and new zealand mudsnails they discovered that nature conversation activities were a primary catalyst and that poor access to information on alien species has stunted concerted action to solve the problem they developed a new information network of alien species and have raised awareness on how alien asian clams seriously threaten native species in japanese water ecosystems national organiser and sponsors lion corporation cti engineering co ltd nippon koei co ltd pacific consultants co ltd tokyo construction consultants co ltd japan federation of construction contractors inc and executive committee of river day photo edelpix stockholm globen the globe arena a jap n vi o u wi n s ne r 2004 pr e 9

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l at v i a assessing the ecological quality of lake engure with macrophytes by linards klavins this study compared differences in ecological health in lake engure and analysed the possibility to use water plants macrophytes for water quality evaluations ecological quality assessment methods have a great potential for evaluation of surface waters amongst different aquatic species macrophytes can easily be used for water quality evaluation the latvian students were able to elaborate an ecological quality map and study new possibilities to use macrophytes for lake quality assessments mexico reducing the water footprint for biodiesel production by luis alberto lira-hernandez applying a research model developed at the university of twente netherlands the mexican project demonstrated how the water footprint of the biodiesel manufacturing process could be reduced by improved water reuse they found that water used to wash biodiesel could be reintroduced to wastewater treatment plants without any further treatment or processing the effluent is a viable alternative to replace fresh water during the manufacturing process of biodiesel and therefore can reduce the need to draw from new freshwater resources netherlands unlocking the potential of local wastewater treatment by rogier burger today wastewater treatment is organised in a way that focuses on removing pollutants from water and in the process it uses a lot of energy however there are valuable materials that can be recovered from what we call `waste water new systems to recover and reuse those materials could be used produce energy and also reduce treatment costs the dutch project details a decentralised ecologic manufacture approach dema which improves the separation of `black and `grey water and can reduce costs recycle materials and reuse water and energy the sustainable dema is applicable across the world and could make a difference in the quality of life for many people national organiser and sponsors netherlands water partnership ministry of infrastructure and the environment artners for water and wetsus national organiser and sponsors riga city council education culture and sports department national organisers and sponsors embajada de suecia acdemia mexicana de ciencias conagua camara sueco mexicana de comercio imjuve gobierno de la ciudad de mexico unam grupo urrea kemira tetrapack itt industries sandvik ericsson colegio de ingenieros ambientales ac and alfa laval me xico vi o u wi n s 10 ne r 2007 pr e

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n o r way pool water and health issues a scientific analysis on the connections between water quality and health issues in public swimming pools by henning kaland and kristoffer karud extended exposure to hypochlorite in pools has been linked to asthma as well as a host of other possible health complications some more serious than others the norweigan team performed an in depth assessment of water quality in swimming pools in oslo with detailed measurements of bacteria hypochlorite and particle content and ph levels the young scientists concluded that the water quality in the pools were within national regulations but that regulations on hypochlorite should be reassessed to ensure public safety national organiser and sponsors norwegian hydrological committee norwegian water association va-yngre norwegian water resources and energy directorate statkraft clean water norway and godt vann drammensregionen stockholm Östermalmshallarna food court at Östermalm photo edelpix 11

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republic of korea introducing a new climate coast guard coastal erosion protection from the impacts of climate change by msung eun jang hayejin moon and dhoyeon kim climate change is likely to cause sea level rise and corresponding increases in the height of waves can lead to serious erosion in beach and coastal areas the korean team engineered a blockade to protect beaches from erosion initial test of their mecs design mushroomshaped eco coastal structure were estimated to be able to avoid 44-50 per cent of erosion they hope that their work is a first step towards creating an engineering solution to erosion russian feder at ion water map of kazan city by aigul khafizova and oleg shamaev singapore use of a natural fibrous sorbent for oil spill cleanup by kai sheng leonard tan mohammad mustafar bin abdul razak and jin hao tan oil spills pose a major threat to the marine environment in this project kapok a natural agricultural fibre which possesses outstanding hydrophobic-oleophilic characteristics was studied for its ability to absorb crude oil it was found to be very efficient compared to commercial sorbents retaining oil at almost 50 times its weight when placed under pressure 98 per cent of the oil could be recovered and thus help minimise the wastage of crude oil using original methods and standard techniques of environmental mapping the russian team developed a digital map of water resources of kazan city based on a bit map topographic base the map contains an inventory of 200 urban water reservoirs the maps are available online on the russian webpage of the international web-based project www.greenteen.org and is also posted at www.greenmap.ru a site created by high school students the map has also been published in print as an environmental guidebook national organiser and sponsors woong jin coway co ltd ministry of public administration and security ministry of land transport and maritime affairs ministry of environment korea university and the hwajeong peace foundation national organiser and sponsors environmental projects consulting institute coca cola hellenic russia state grant of the russian federation federal ministry of natural resources and ecology rosvodokanal group and evraziyskiy jsc national organiser and sponsors ngee ann polytechnic lien foundation public utilities board pub and singapore s national water agency 12

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slovak republic natural treatment of water and its effect on unicellular organisms by dominika pelegrinová and nikolette zavillová this project investigated the potential use of natural zeolite of the clinoptilolite type and hydrologitic enzymes isolated from rainworms as a natural option for water treatment the experimental purification method was applied to water samples taken from three separate sources each sample contained cilates whose activity could be tested before and after treatment through fluorescence spectroscopy to evaluate the impact of the treatment method zeolite was found to improve water quality lower total concentration of ammonia and remove odors colour and some organic compounds but did not change ph levels national organiser and sponsors young scientists of slovakia bratislava water company bratislavská vodárenská spolocnosc east slovakia water company východoslovenská vodárenská spolocnosc slovak research and development agency ministry of education science research and sports of slovak republic and ministry of environment of the slovak republic photo edelpix stockholm drottningholms slott drottningholm palace 13

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south africa water conservation in windmills by hendrick fourie and gideon de jager sri lanka from pollutant to pulp industrial symbiosis of textile finishing paper recycling and pulp production by prasan warnakula the objective of this research was to investigate the possibility of making paper pulp out of low grade recycled paper the young sri lankan scientist found that some nutrients from wastewater from the textile finishing industry could enable a symbiotic process aluminum which needs to be removed from the industrial wastewater can be absorbed in paper pulp to improve its stability following a series of experiments and trials the project indicates that it is possible to reduce the water requirement for pulp production and improve the treatment efficiency of the textile industry wastewater sweden lagena bottle made by nature by josefin pettersson and emma högström the south african team sought to improve the design of windmills to ensure that water was used as efficiently as possible in their model they fitted a by-pass valve to redirect the water to the groundwater source and added a ball-valve to the reservoir to cut off excess incoming water they believe that such improvements are needed at all levels of society for south africa to grow with its relatively limited water resources lagena is an innovative bottle design that makes it possible to transport 78 per cent more water per truck than is done with the average plastic water bottle shifting to lagena would translate into significant reductions in co2 emissions the bottle is made out of polylactide pla which is renewable fully biodegradable and does not release hydrocarbons when it is reabsorbed by the earth the swedish inventors envision lagena as an attempt and a suggestion to present smarter solutions to secure global water supply and reduce the emissions of co2 and hydrocarbons into the environment national organiser and sponsors water research commission univesity of kwazulu-natal and cape peninsular university of technology national organiser and sponsors itt corporation usa industrial solutions lanka pvt ltd isl community led environmental awareness network clean national organiser and sponsors itt water waste water svenskt vatten tyréns urban water norrköping vatten and vattenmyndigheterna ed e n sw r 2001 o u wi n s 14 ne pr vi e

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turkey clean energy from dirty water producing electricity from wastewater using exoelectrogen anaerobic bacteria in microbial fuel cells by ozan ozkan cem celik and emre suna this study aim to use exoelectrogen anaerobic bacteria in microbial fuel cells to produce electricity and prevent pollution from wastewater discharge the turkish students systems was able to generate electricity and treat wastewater to 90 per cent efficiency their design was unique in its electrote shape and used no extra substrate chemical compositions or buffer solutions their work makes a strong case for the use microbial fuel cells to treat water pollutants ukraine splitting oil from water purifying water from oil pollution using magnetic separation through fine-dispersed magnetite by dmytro danylchuk this project explored the feasibility of magnetic separation as a method to clean water that has been polluted by oil fine-dispersed magnetite was applied as an experimental method to remove oil and some oil derivatives from the water a thin-layer chromatography was utilised to monitor the results which suggest that the magnetite is a potentially effective treatment option that can be used during the liquidation of shelf oil spills national organiser and sponsor general directorate of state hydraulic works turkey national organiser and sponsors dow ecosoft jsc ak kyivvodokanal and ekoinform publishing house rkey tu photo edelpix stockholm rådhuset stockholm city hall vi o u wi n s ne r 2009 pr e 15

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