Four students from Anglo Singapore International School in Thailand won the Best in World award for their investigations into the efficiency of harvesting water from the atmosphere in response to water scarcity.
ZiKe Huang, Tan Hiranwat, Jintaporn Seemunta and Kunathorn Jesdaviriya designed and built an atmospheric moisture condensation system using a refrigeration pump, cooling module and collection surface. Once the air temperature in the system reached its dew point, water condensed into the collector and a fan pushed filtered air over a purification system to reduce contamination.
The team found that the resultant water had a pH level of 7 (neutral), the salinity measurement was low, and the mineral content was similar to distilled water. There was no detectable bacterial contamination, leading the team to conclude that atmospheric moisture condensation does have a great potential for water generation.
Team member Kunathorn Jesdaviriya (Ken) said: 'As one of the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations, even now it is difficult to find a way to ensure that there is enough water for everyone on the earth. After my deeper research, I gradually realized that there are tens of thousands of people in the world who are suffering from water scarcity. Maybe our project this time cannot effectively help those suffering people, but I believe that maybe one of our team will do it in the future.'
The judges were particularly impressed, with head Judge Charlie Pettit saying that the 'Best in World winner particularly stands out as a project that not only demonstrates a logical, professional, and rigorous approach to science, but also shows the way in which those scientists on the innovative edge of discovery can act collaboratively, with integrity and with empathy.'
The Best in World is chosen from all the Best in Region Winners. This team were the Best in Region for Southeast Asia & Pacific in the first period of the competition.