REGINA, Saskatchewan, May 22 A 17-year-old Canadian high school student won several prizes, including a trip to South Africa, for her project on solar water pasteurization.
Haley Robinson of La Ronge, Saskatchewan, won seven prizes at the Canada Wide Science fair held in Truro, Nova Scotia, for her project on solar water pasteurization. The project came from an idea she got when studying solar water heating options for Canadian homes in the ninth grade, the Saskatchewan News Network reported.
"Solar water pasteurization is just a fancy name for decontaminating water with solar energy," Robinson said. "It's used in developing countries where there's a huge health crisis right now with contaminated water." Held from May 12 to Sunday, the science fair drew 500 students from across Canada to compete for a variety of prizes, including a trip to South Africa. The two days of judging resulted in $6,000 in cash awards for Robinson in addition the trip to South Africa.
Robinson's project is a teepee structure made essentially from garbage: sticks, cardboard, plastic bags and aluminum foil. A container of water, covered in heat-insulating charcoal paint, and plastic bags, is suspended by string in the middle of a cardboard funnel covered in foil. As the sun reflects off the foil, the water is heated to 135 degrees where it must remain for several hours for all bacteria to die.
Robinson says she hopes to design a sediment filter for her invention for next year. But for now, she's getting ready to exhibit her project at the Expo Science Internationale in Durban, South Africa, in July.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
