12-Year-Old Girl Will Save Our Lives With Her Device To Test Contaminated Water

As stated by a report published in June 2018, the water crisis in India is now worse than ever in the country’s history, resulting in more than 600 million people suffering from severe water shortage during the rainy season.

According to data from the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), out of 29 states in India, 24 are going to experience an even worse water crisis in the new future. NITI Aayog also warns that by 2020, 20 major cities tend to run out of groundwater.

In such a scary future when every single water drop is precious, we need to make sure it’s clean enough. And an Indian 12-year-old will help us do that with a gadget she has just invented.

Gitanjali Rao

In grade 8, Gitanjali Rao, living in the US, has created a water tester using nanotechnology and sensors. The device, also known as Tethys, can identify dangerous lead contamination in drinking water and it’s the fastest in the current market.

Speaking at TEDxGateway 2018, Rao said when studying the matter, she realized the primary issue is detection since people have no idea whether they are drinking safe water or not. Hence, she decided to create an accurate, fast, portable, and cheap device for everyone to test their own water.

Gitanjali Rao at TEDxGateway 2018

The sensor on Tethys is linked to a mobile app which can analyze the water sample instantly and precisely. Users don’t have to wait at all.

Gitanjali believes that schools around the world should use Tethys right away to help children avoid taking in lead as well as other heavy metals.

Tethys

Gitanjali mentioned her biggest obstacle, for now, is that all extensive accuracy tests and analyses are done on her own. Yet, the 12-year-old inventor is seeing if she can build an expert team with the help from a few incubator companies which can guide her.

With her heart for her home country, Gitanjali claimed she will expand the device to detect other contaminants like Cadium and Arsenic, the biggest causes of contamination in India. The young inventor hopes to launch this plan early next year.

To her peer innovators, Gitanjali suggests that they keep an eye on technology advancements as well as the issues affecting people’s lives.

Gitanjali Rao became America’s Top Young Scientist of 2017.