Salem Student Creates Solar-powered Water Filter
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
Megha Joshi'sAward-winning Science Fair Project,Resulted with InnovativeSolar Panels Water Purification System
Megha Joshi was researching natural disasters last year when the idea for an award-winning science fair project — a solar-powered water filtration system — popped into her mind.
Hurricanes, floods and tsunamis can pollute the water supply with bacteria and other contaminants, which can lead to illness for people who drink it.
"I wanted to do something that could benefit other people and I wanted my science project to be practical," she said.
Joshi is among 300 semifinalists in a national science and engineering fair for middle school students calledBroadcom MASTERS. There are 19 semifinalists from Oregon, but only one from Salem.
In her backyard in Salem, the Blanchet Catholic School eighth grader demonstrated how the filtration system works.
The solar panels power a battery, which then fuels a pump that brings up the dirty water through a series of filters.
To test the filtration system, Joshi took a water sample from Pringle Creek last year. The water was sent to a private lab, and the test results showed the count for coliform bacteria dropping dramatically after she ran it through her solar-powered water filtration system.
Joshi said she won't know for sure though if the water is safe for drinking until more tests are run and those are costly. The system can run for 8 hours, producing more than 1,600 gallons of water.
The science project, called Aqua Sol, also became a family activity. Her dad, Nitin, went shopping with her for supplies and her younger brother, Mihir, helped snap photos of the filtration system.
Read More Related Content On This Topic - Click Here
Media
Taxonomy
- Purification
- Filtration
- Technology