Young Innovators from 78 Countries Develop New Solutions to World’s Water Challenges

Now in its third year, the challenge invites the next generation of water innovators to solve critical water issues and empowers them to become leading contributors to serious environmental challenges. This year, students were challenged to analyze the water impact of green hydrogen; move from awareness to action on water issues; prevent waterway pollution using data science; and consider the water-energy-emissions nexus in buildings.

“The water issues of today and tomorrow won’t be solved by simply doing things the same way they've always been done. Solving today’s greatest water challenges demands innovative ideas and fresh approaches,” Patrick Decker, President and CEO of Xylem, said. “Engaging this new generation of water leaders and connecting them with a bigger platform to make global impact is critical. We’re energized by the insight, ingenuity, and ambition so many students have brought to this challenge.”

The winning teams shared a $20,000 prize pool and a place in Xylem’s Ignite Innovation Incubator, a program that supports participants in scaling solutions. Xylem recognized the winning teams at a virtual ceremony held on Friday, June 16.

Team WASTE2H from Porto, Portugal, is this year’s grand prize winner in the secondary (high) school category, recognized for their work in analyzing and reducing the water impact of green hydrogen production. “Producing green hydrogen can be very water intensive,” the team said. “Our solution brings together green with green. It combines the sustainable energy used to generate green hydrogen with a production method that uses marine purple photosynthetic bacteria which can be grown using wastewater.” The team’s proposed solution of using wastewater could reduce the intensity of clean water required to produce hydrogen.

The Ocean Rescuers Team from India, Hong Kong, and Pakistan is the 2023 grand prize winner in the tertiary (university) category, for its approach to identifying, mapping, and proposing a solution for a waterway impacted by plastic pollution. “Our project developed a detailed scoring system to identify and rank high-risk plastic pollution sites in India,” noted the team. “But our approach has universal relevance. It can be applied to other regions to identify pollution hot spots and develop effective, targeted solutions.”

The Global Student Innovation Challenge is part of Xylem Ignite, a youth program designed to inspire and empower the next generation of water leaders to drive real changes in the water industry. Increasing youth engagement in solving global water challenges is a key part of Xylem’s Sustainability Goals and in 2022, more than 11,000 students participated in Xylem Ignite events including the Global Student Innovation Challenge, hackathons, and the Ignite Innovation Incubator.