A young scientist's quest for clean water | Deepika Kurup

Translator: Pilar Brocos Reviewer: Servizo de Normalización Lingüística

Todos os veráns viaxo 5000 km coa miña familia para ir á India,

un país de gran diversidade cultural.

Every summer, my family and I travel across the world,

Tamén é ben coñecida a súa abafante calor húmida.

3,000 miles away

to the culturally diverse country of India.

Eu só consigo aliviala bebendo auga a esgalla.

Now, India is a country infamous for its scorching heat and humidity.

Cando imos alí,

os meus pais lémbranme sempre que só beba auga fervida ou embotellada.

For me, the only relief from this heat is to drink plenty of water.

Mentres que nos EUA

Now, while in India,

non temos máis que abrir a billa para ter auga potable,

my parents always remind me to only drink boiled or bottled water,

na India a auga está a miúdo contaminada,

because unlike here in America,

where I can just turn on a tap and easily get clean, potable water,

de aí que os meus pais teñan que mirar pola auga que bebemos.

in India, the water is often contaminated.

Pero eu decateime dende ben pequena de que non todos tiñan a nosa sorte.

So my parents have to make sure

that the water we drink is safe.

However, I soon realized

Nas rúas da India, onda os meus avós,

that not everyone is fortunate enough

teño visto xente facendo cola ao sol para encher baldes de auga nunha billa.

to enjoy the clean water we did.

Outside my grandparents' house in the busy streets of India,

Mesmo vin nenos da miña idade

I saw people standing in long lines

under the hot sun

filling buckets with water from a tap.

enchendo as típicas botellas de auga nos regos sucios das cunetas.

I even saw children,

who looked the same age as me,

Ver eses cativos obrigados a beber unha auga que eu nin tocaría

filling up these clear plastic bottles

with dirty water from streams on the roadside.

cambiou a miña visión do mundo.

Watching these kids

forced to drink water

Esta inaceptable inxustiza social

that I felt was too dirty to touch

motivoume a buscar unha solución á escaseza de auga potable no mundo.

changed my perspective on the world.

This unacceptable social injustice

Quería saber por que eses cativos carecían de algo tan esencial para a vida.

compelled me to want to find a solution

to our world's clean water problem.

E descubrín que nos enfrontamos a unha crise global da auga.

I wanted to know why these kids lacked water,

a substance that is essential for life.

Isto pode sorprendernos,

And I learned that we are facing

xa que 3/4 partes da Terra están cubertas de auga,

a global water crisis.

pero só o 2,5 % dela é auga doce

Now, this may seem surprising,

as 75 percent of our planet is covered in water,

e menos do 1 % desa auga doce está accesible.

but only 2.5 percent of that is freshwater,

Co aumento da poboación mundial,

and less than one percent of Earth's freshwater supply

o desenvolvemento industrial e o crecemento económico,

is available for human consumption.

a nosa demanda de auga potable é cada vez maior,

ao tempo que os recursos de auga doce se esgotan con rapidez.

With rising populations,

industrial development and economic growth,

Segundo a OMS,

our demand for clean water is increasing,

660 millóns de persoas non teñen acceso a auga potable.

yet our freshwater resources are rapidly depleting.

According to the World Health Organization,

Nos países en vías de desenvolvemento,

660 million people in our world

esta carencia é unha das principais causas de mortalidade na nenez.

lack access to a clean water source.

UNICEF calcula que 3000 nenos morren cada día

Lack of access to clean water is a leading cause of death

polo consumo de auga contaminada.

in children under the age of five in developing countries,

Así que un día á volta das vacacións de verán, con 14 anos,

and UNICEF estimates that 3,000 children

die every day from a water-related disease.

resolvín combinar dous dos meus intereses, a crise mundial da auga e a ciencia,

So after returning home one summer in eighth grade,

I decided that I wanted to combine my passion

e decidín que o mellor que podía facer

era converter o noso garaxe nun laboratorio.

for solving the global water crisis

with my interest in science.

(Risos)

So I decided that the best thing to do

En realidade, tenteino primeiro na cociña,

would be to convert my garage into a laboratory.

pero meus pais non estaban de acordo e chimpáronme de alí.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

Actually, at first I converted my kitchen into a laboratory,

Tamén lin moitos artigos científicos

sobre a auga.

but my parents didn't really approve and kicked me out.

E así souben dun método de depuración chamado desinfección solar

I also read a lot of journal papers on water-related research,

ou SODIS, o seu acrónimo inglés, que se usa nos países en desenvolvemento.

and I learned that currently in developing countries,

A SODIS consiste en encher de auga botellas de plástico transparente

something called solar disinfection,

or SODIS, is used to purify water.

e deixalas entre seis e oito horas ao sol.

In SODIS, clear plastic bottles are filled with contaminated water

A radiación UV do sol destrúe o ADN dos xermes patóxenos e desinfecta a auga.

and then exposed to sunlight for six to eight hours.

The UV radiation from the sun

A técnica é ben sinxela e non ten gasto enerxético,

destroys the DNA of these harmful pathogens

and decontaminates the water.

pero tamén é lenta.

Pode alongarse até dous días cando está nubrado.

Now, while SODIS is really easy to use and energy-efficient,

Unha proposta recente para acurtala

as it only uses solar energy,

it's really slow,

bota man da fotocatálise.

as it can take up to two days when it's cloudy.

So in order to make the SODIS process faster,

E que é a fotocatálise?

this new method called photocatalysis

Un catalizador é algo que acelera unha reacción,

has recently been used.

mentres que “foto” fai referencia á luz.

So what exactly is this photocatalysis?

Entón o que fai a fotocatálise é acelerar o proceso de desinfección solar.

Let's break it down:

"photo" means from the sun,

and a catalyst is something that speeds up a reaction.

Cando a luz do sol incide sobre un fotocatalizador,

So what photocatalysis is doing

como pode ser o TiO₂, ou dióxido de titanio,

is it's just speeding up this solar disinfection process.

crea especies reactivas do osíxeno,

When sunlight comes in and strikes a photocatalyst,

como superóxidos, auga osixenada e radicais hidroxilos.

like TiO2, or titanium dioxide,

it creates these really reactive oxygen species,

Estes compostos tan reactivos eliminan moitos contaminantes da auga,

like superoxides, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals.

incluíndo bacterias e residuos orgánicos.

These reactive oxygen species

Pero a SODIS fotocatalítica é aínda unha técnica pouco madura.

are able to remove bacteria and organics

and a whole lot of contaminants from drinking water.

But unfortunately, there are several disadvantages

O usual é recubrir o interior das botellas cunha capa de dióxido de titanio,

to the way photocatalytic SODIS is currently deployed.

See, what they do is they take the clear plastic bottles

que xusto adoita ser un ingrediente dos protectores solares.

and they coat the inside with this photocatalytic coating.

Velaquí entón o primeiro problema:

But photocatalysts like titanium dioxide

ese revestimento interior bloquea parte da radiación UV

are actually commonly used in sunscreens

e diminúe así a eficacia da SODIS.

to block UV radiation.

So when they're coated on the inside of these bottles,

Por outra banda, esa capa non queda ben adherida ao plástico.

they're actually blocking some of the UV radiation

and diminishing the efficiency of the process.

O catalizador vaise desprendendo co tempo e a xente acaba bebéndoo.

Also, these photocatalytic coatings

are not tightly bound to the plastic bottle,

Aínda que o TiO₂ é inocuo e inerte,

resulta custoso e pouco práctico bebelo,

which means they wash off, and people end up drinking the catalyst.

porque isto obriga a repoñelo con frecuencia.

While TiO2 is safe and inert,

Así que o meu obxectivo era perfeccionar a SODIS fotocatalítica

it's really inefficient if you keep drinking the catalyst,

because then you have to continue to replenish it,

para facela segura, sostible, económica e ecolóxica.

even after a few uses.

So my goal was to overcome the disadvantages

of these current treatment methods

E o que comezou como un traballo escolar de ciencias

and create a safe, sustainable,

cost-effective and eco-friendly method of purifying water.

deveu no meu composto fotocatalítico para a depuración de auga.

What started off as an eighth grade science fair project

O composto combina dióxido de titanio con cemento.

is now my photocatalytic composite for water purification.

A súa textura de cemento permítelle adoptar diversas formas,

The composite combines titanium dioxide with cement.

o que dá lugar a unha gama moi versátil de métodos de aplicación.

The cement-like composite can be formed into several different shapes,

Por exemplo, pode modelarse unha barra para meter en botellas de uso individual

which results in an extremely versatile range of deployment methods.

ou un filtro poroso para uso familiar.

For example, you could create a rod

that can easily be placed inside water bottles for individual use

Mesmo se pode revestir co composto o interior dun depósito comunitario,

or you could create a porous filter that can filter water for families.

para que actúe durante máis tempo sobre volumes de auga tamén maiores.

You can even coat the inside of an existing water tank

O proceso para chegar aquí non foi un camiño doado.

to purify larger amounts of water

for communities over a longer period of time.

Eu non dispoñía dun sofisticado laboratorio.

Now, over the course of this,

Só tiña 14 anos cando comecei,

my journey hasn't really been easy.

pero non deixei que isto fose un atranco

You know, I didn't have access to a sophisticated laboratory.

para teimar na miña investigación

I was 14 years old when I started,

e no desexo de resolver a crise mundial da auga.

but I didn't let my age deter me

A auga non só é o solvente universal.

in my interest in pursuing scientific research

É tamén un dereito humano universal.

and wanting to solve the global water crisis.

Por iso sigo traballando naquel proxecto escolar de 2012,

See, water isn't just the universal solvent.

Water is a universal human right.

para trasladar á sociedade esa investigación.

And for that reason,

E este verán fundei a Catalizadora da Auga do Mundo,

I'm continuing to work on this science fair project from 2012

unha empresa social enfocada en catalizar solucións para a crise global da auga.

to bring it from the laboratory into the real world.

And this summer, I founded Catalyst for World Water,

(Aplausos)

a social enterprise aimed at catalyzing solutions to the global water crisis.

Unha soa pinga no océano non é gran cousa,

(Applause)

pero todas elas xuntas son a base da vida no planeta.

Alone, a single drop of water can't do much,

Dese mesmo xeito deberiamos xuntarnos todos

but when many drops come together,

para afrontar o problema da auga no mundo.

they can sustain life on our planet.

Just as water drops come together to form oceans,

Grazas.

(Aplausos)

I believe that we all must come together

Grazas.

when tackling this global problem.

(Aplausos)

Thank you.

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)