In Tanzania, clean drinking water is a rare resource because the water most locals have access to is contaminated. Current filtering systems get rid of only 97 per cent of contaminants, that is until local chemical engineer, Askwar Hilonga invented his own water filtering system, which removes 99.999 per cent of contaminants and is significantly cheaper than what’s on the market.
Recently awarded with London Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, the filtering system provides a low-cost and accessible solution to Tanzania’s water problem. It operates with sand and nanotechnology – a field Hilonga is particularly interested in having obtained a PhD in nanotechnology in South Korea.