A water filter that absorbs anything from copper and fluoride to bacteria, viruses and pesticides has won a prestigious innovation prize.
Its inventor, Tanzanian chemical engineer Askwar Hilonga, uses nanotechnology and sand to clean water. He told the BBC his invention should help the 70 percent of households in Tanzania that do not have clean drinking water. The water filter already has been trademarked.
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, worth $38,000, was the first of its kind from the United Kingdom’s Royal Academy of Engineering. Head judge Malcolm Brinded said, “His innovation could change the lives of many Africans and people all over the world.”
“I put water through sand to trap debris and bacteria,” Hilonga said. “But sand cannot remove contaminants like fluoride and other heavy metals, so I put them through nanomaterials to remove chemical contaminants.”
He said that one filter costs $130, but, after winning the award, he will buy materials in bulk and the cost will go down. “For people who cannot afford water filters, we have established water stations where people come and buy water at a very, very low, affordable price,” he said.
While he was growing up in rural Tanzania, Hilonga’s family regularly suffered from water-borne diseases. So when he got his doctorate in nanotechnology in South Korea, Hilonga started looking at nanomaterials that would be suitable for water purification.