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Limpopo teens win award for cellphone-operated water conservation solution 

A group of learners from Mathari High School in Limpopo won the South African Youth Water Prize yesterday for their water conservation solution that uses cellphones to control water valve usage and flow.

The grade 10 learners competed against other high school pupils in the competition during the Department of Water and Sanitation’s National Youth Water and Sanitation Summit.

Learners entering the competition were tasked with coming up with plans to curb water challenges in their schools or areas.

The winning group’s Project Water Conversation solution uses two cellphones  as remote-control taps; a user can call or send a “please call me” to one cellphone, which will then pass on the signal to the other phone, letting it know that it should close a water valve.

A level sensor is used to stop the flow of water once it has reached the required level in a tub or sink.

“We can also set an alarm on cellphone A, which will determine when the water must start to flow and also set another alarm on cell phone B to determine the duration of the water flow,” Camilia Mashele, who was part of the Mathari High learners, said.

“We used this because people use a lot of remote controls these days, so our model will be appealing because it uses cell phones, you won’t have to get up and do it yourself, you just call,” added Mashele’s colleague, Edgar Nukeri.

The Mathari High learners walked away with a cash prize and bursaries to pursue studies in water and sanitation related careers. They group also hopes the solution will be made widely available to residents in their community and plan to pitch the idea to their local municipality.

[Source – South African Government News Agency, image – Steve Johnson]

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