The effective removal of hazardous chemicals and substances from drinking water is vital in safeguarding human health and wellbeing. With many natural and man-made contaminants being released into the environment on a daily basis, how can we ensure that the water we drink is free from nasty chemicals?

Hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency, this challenge is requesting design solutions for a water toxicity sensor which can detect hazardous substances in drinking water. The sensor will need to be able to rapidly detect contaminants and quantify the magnitude to which one or more human toxicity pathways could be affected. A toxicity pathway is a series of inter-cellular events which regulate biological functioning and if sufficiently perturbed by a contaminant, can result in adverse health effects.

The winning design is required to be less costly and more efficient than current methods of toxicity analysis which typically require time-consuming and labour-intensive laboratory examination. Applications are encouraged from a diversity of industrial and research sectors, with both existing and novel technologies accepted.  

Up to three finalist can be selected, with each receiving up to $15,000 for their ideas! 

Think you’ve got an idea?... Apply below!