Deepika Kurup —The Science Behind Clean Water

Interviewer :

Why do you focus on water issues?

Kurup :

When I was young,/I often traveled to India/to visit my relatives. There,/I had to drink boiled or bottled water/to avoid getting diarrhea/and other diseases. One day,/I was shocked/to see children drinking water/from puddles on the road. These children didn’t have access/to clean water.

I :

What did you think/about the situation?

K :

I thought,/“This situation is a social injustice. Only poor people/don’t have access/to clean water. If the international community did something,/the situation could be improved.” So/I decided to work on the problem/of clean water access.

I :

What did you do first/to work on the problem?

K :

I read a lot of books. I also talked with many people,/including scientists. I realized/that science could solve the problem.

I :

What scientific solution/did you find?

K :

I learned about SODIS,/which is a method to purify water. In this method,/people fill plastic bottles/with dirty water/and leave them in the sun/for six to eight hours. The sunlight kills the harmful germs/in the water. Although SODIS is simple and ecological,/it’s too slow. So/I decided to do experiments/to speed up the process. If I had had a laboratory then,/I could have done complex experiments. Since I didn’t have one,/I did my experiments/in the kitchen and garage.

I :

Did your experiments go well?

K :

They were not always successful. I was looking for a photocatalyst/to put in plastic water bottles. A photocatalyst was the key/to speeding up the purification process. It wasn’t easy/to find a new material for it. But I finally found one.

I :

What’s the material?

K :

It’s a mixture/of cement and a kind of metal. It’s effective/for speeding up the process. In addition,/the material is so flexible/that it can be formed/into different shapes and sizes. Without this flexibility,/it wouldn’t fit/in many different containers.

I :

In what kinds of containers/can it be used?

K :

It can be used/in not only small, personal bottles,/but also large water tanks.

I :

How has your research been going/since then?

K :

I’ve made improvements/to the photocatalyst/so that water can be purified/in 15 minutes. However,/no matter how well my research goes,/it’s just a part of the solution/to the world’s water problem.

I :

What else/is needed to solve the problem?

K :

Scientists in the world/will have to work together. They also need to cooperate with governments/and other organizations. Alone,/a single drop of water/can’t do much. But when many drops come together,/they can sustain life/on our planet. Just as water drops come together/to form oceans,/I believe/that we all must come together/when we tackle this global problem.