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

Prevodilac: Ljubica Samardžić Lektor: Ivana Krivokuća

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

Svakog leta, moja porodica i ja putujemo preko pola sveta,

3,000 miles away

na udaljenost od skoro 5 000 kilometara,

to the culturally diverse country of India.

u kulturološki raznoliku zemlju Indiju.

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

Indija je zloglasna država zbog svoje vreline i vlažnosti.

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

Za mene je jedini spas od ove vreline u tome što pijem dosta vode.

Now, while in India,

Ali dok smo u Indiji,

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

roditelji me uvek podsećaju da pijem samo prokuvanu ili flaširanu vodu,

because unlike here in America,

jer za razliku od Amerike,

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

gde mogu samo da odvrnem česmu i dobijem čistu vodu za piće,

in India, the water is often contaminated.

u Indiji je voda često zagađena.

So my parents have to make sure

Stoga moji roditelji moraju da provere

that the water we drink is safe.

da je voda koju pijemo bezbedna.

However, I soon realized

Međutim, ubrzo sam shvatila

that not everyone is fortunate enough

da nemaju svi tu sreću

to enjoy the clean water we did.

da uživaju u čistoj vodi kao mi.

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

Ispred kuće mojih deke i bake u prometnim indijskim ulicama,

I saw people standing in long lines

videla sam ljude koji stoje u dugim redovima

under the hot sun

na vrelom suncu

filling buckets with water from a tap.

i pune kante vodom sa česme.

I even saw children,

Videla sam čak i decu,

who looked the same age as me,

koja su izgledala mojih godina,

filling up these clear plastic bottles

kako pune plastične boce

with dirty water from streams on the roadside.

prljavom vodom iz potoka kraj puta.

Watching these kids

Posmatranje ove dece

forced to drink water

koja moraju da piju vodu

that I felt was too dirty to touch

koja se meni činila previše prljavom da je dodirnem

changed my perspective on the world.

je promenilo moj pogled na svet.

This unacceptable social injustice

Ova neprihvatljiva društvena nepravda

compelled me to want to find a solution

me je naterala da poželim da nađem rešenje

to our world's clean water problem.

svetskog problema nedostatka čiste vode.

I wanted to know why these kids lacked water,

Želela sam da znam zašto ova deca nemaju čistu vodu,

a substance that is essential for life.

supstancu koja je neophodna za život.

And I learned that we are facing

Shvatila sam da se susrećemo

a global water crisis.

sa globalnim krizom nedostatka vode.

Now, this may seem surprising,

Ovo vas može začuditi,

as 75 percent of our planet is covered in water,

jer je 75% naše planete prekriveno vodom,

but only 2.5 percent of that is freshwater,

ali samo 2,5% toga je slatka voda,

and less than one percent of Earth's freshwater supply

a manje od 1% slatke vode

is available for human consumption.

je dostupno za ljudsku upotrebu.

With rising populations,

Uz populaciju koja se povećava,

industrial development and economic growth,

industrijski razvoj i ekonomski rast,

our demand for clean water is increasing,

naša potreba za vodom se uvećava,

yet our freshwater resources are rapidly depleting.

ali se naše zalihe slatke vode ubrzano troše.

According to the World Health Organization,

Prema podacima Svetske zdravstvene organizacije,

660 million people in our world

660 miliona ljudi na svetu

lack access to a clean water source.

nema pristup čistoj vodi.

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

Nedostatak čiste vode je glavni uzrok smrti

in children under the age of five in developing countries,

među decom mlađom od pet godina u zemljama u razvoju,

and UNICEF estimates that 3,000 children

a UNICEF procenjuje da oko 3 000 dece

die every day from a water-related disease.

svakodnevno umru od bolesti koje se prenose vodom.

So after returning home one summer in eighth grade,

I tako, vrativši se kući jednog leta u osmom razredu,

I decided that I wanted to combine my passion

odlučila sam da želim da spojim svoju strast

for solving the global water crisis

za rešavanjem globalne krize nedostatka vode

with my interest in science.

sa svojim zanimanjem za nauku.

Odlučila sam da bi najbolja stvar koju bi mogla da uradim

So I decided that the best thing to do

would be to convert my garage into a laboratory.

bilo da pretvorim garažu u laboratoriju.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

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

U stvari, prvo sam pretvorila kuhinju u laboratoriju,

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

ali se moji roditelji nisu baš složili i isterali su me.

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

Takođe sam čitala dosta istraživačkih radova o vodi

and I learned that currently in developing countries,

i otkrila da se trenutno u razvijenim zemljama

something called solar disinfection,

nešto pod nazivom solarna dezinfekcija

or SODIS, is used to purify water.

ili SODIS koristi za pročišćavanje vode.

In SODIS, clear plastic bottles are filled with contaminated water

Čiste plastične boce se napune zagađenom vodom

and then exposed to sunlight for six to eight hours.

i onda ostave na suncu šest do osam sati.

The UV radiation from the sun

Sunčevo UV zračenje

destroys the DNA of these harmful pathogens

uništava DNK ovih štetnih patogena

and decontaminates the water.

i čisti vodu.

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

Iako je SODIS zaista jednostavan i štedi energiju

as it only uses solar energy,

time što koristi samo solarnu energiju,

it's really slow,

veoma je spor,

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

jer proces može da potraje do dva dana kada je oblačno.

So in order to make the SODIS process faster,

Kako bi se ubrzao proces,

this new method called photocatalysis

novi metod pod imenom fotokataliza

has recently been used.

se od nedavno koristi.

So what exactly is this photocatalysis?

Dakle, šta je tačno fotokataliza?

Let's break it down:

Rastavimo je u delove:

"photo" means from the sun,

„foto“ znači da dolazi od sunca,

and a catalyst is something that speeds up a reaction.

a katalizator je nešto što ubrzava datu reakciju.

So what photocatalysis is doing

Dakle, fotokatalizator samo ubrzava

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

proces solarnog pročišćavanja vode.

When sunlight comes in and strikes a photocatalyst,

Kada se pojavi sunčeva svetlost i dosegne fotokatalizator,

like TiO2, or titanium dioxide,

kao što je TiO2 ili titanijum-dioksid,

it creates these really reactive oxygen species,

on stvara veoma reaktivne vrste kiseonika

like superoxides, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals.

poput superoksida, hidrogen-peroksida ili hidroksil radikala.

These reactive oxygen species

Ove reaktivne vrste kiseonika

are able to remove bacteria and organics

mogu da uklone iz pijaće vode bakterije, organska jedinjenja

and a whole lot of contaminants from drinking water.

i veliki broj drugih zagađivača.

But unfortunately, there are several disadvantages

Nažalost, postoji nekoliko mana

to the way photocatalytic SODIS is currently deployed.

načina na koji se fotokalizatorski SODIS trenutno upotrebljava.

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

Oni uzimaju prazne plastične boce

and they coat the inside with this photocatalytic coating.

i oblažu unutrašnjost tom fotokatalizatorskom oblogom.

But photocatalysts like titanium dioxide

Ali neki od fotokatalizatora poput titanijum-dioksida

are actually commonly used in sunscreens

se često koriste u kremama za sunčanje

to block UV radiation.

da blokiraju UV zračenje.

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

Tako da kada unutrašnjost boca obložimo njima,

they're actually blocking some of the UV radiation

u stvari blokiraju jedan deo UV zračenja

and diminishing the efficiency of the process.

i smanjuju efikasnost procesa.

Also, these photocatalytic coatings

Takođe, ova fotokatalitička obloga

are not tightly bound to the plastic bottle,

nije tesno pripijena uz plastičnu bocu,

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

što znači da otpadne i ljudi na kraju popiju sam katalizator.

While TiO2 is safe and inert,

Iako je TiO2 bezbedan i inertan,

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

zaista je neefikasno ako kontinuirano pijete katalizator

because then you have to continue to replenish it,

jer onda morate da ga dopunite

posle svega nekoliko upotreba.

even after a few uses.

So my goal was to overcome the disadvantages

Moj cilj je stoga bio da savladam mane

of these current treatment methods

ovih aktuelnih metoda

and create a safe, sustainable,

i stvorim bezbedan, održiv,

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

jeftin i ekološki način pročišćavanja vode.

What started off as an eighth grade science fair project

Ono što je počelo kao projekat za naučno takmičenje u osmom razredu

is now my photocatalytic composite for water purification.

je sada moja fotokatolizatorska smeša za pročišćavanje vode.

The composite combines titanium dioxide with cement.

Smeša je kombinacija titanijum-dioksida i cementa.

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

Smeša na bazi cementa se može oblikovati u nekoliko različitih oblika,

which results in an extremely versatile range of deployment methods.

što dovodi do veoma raznovrsnih metoda za upotrebu.

For example, you could create a rod

Na primer, mogli biste da napravite šipku

that can easily be placed inside water bottles for individual use

koju biste lako stavili u bocu za ličnu upotrebu

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

ili biste mogli da napravite propustljiv filter

koji može da pročišćava vodu za porodice.

You can even coat the inside of an existing water tank

Mogli biste čak da obložite unutrašnjost rezervoara za vodu

to purify larger amounts of water

da biste pročistili dovoljno vode

for communities over a longer period of time.

za čitave zajednice tokom dužeg vremenskog perioda.

Now, over the course of this,

Tokom razvoja ovog projekta,

my journey hasn't really been easy.

moj put nije bio bez poteškoća.

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

Nisam imala pristup opremljenoj laboratoriji.

I was 14 years old when I started,

Imala sam 14 godina kad sam počela,

but I didn't let my age deter me

ali me moje godine nisu odvratile

in my interest in pursuing scientific research

od interesovanja za naučno istraživanje

and wanting to solve the global water crisis.

i želje da nađem rešenje za globalnu krizu vode.

See, water isn't just the universal solvent.

Znate, voda nije samo univerzalni rastvarač.

Water is a universal human right.

Voda je univerzalno ljudsko pravo.

And for that reason,

I zbog toga nastavljam da radim na ovom projektu iz 2012. godine

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

to bring it from the laboratory into the real world.

kako bi dospeo iz laboratorije u stvaran svet.

And this summer, I founded Catalyst for World Water,

A ovog leta sam osnovala „Katalizator za vodu u svetu“

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

društveno odgovorno preduzeće čiji je cilj da razvije rešenja za globalnu krizu vode.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

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

Jedna kapljica vode sama ne može da učini puno,

but when many drops come together,

ali kada se združi mnogo kapljica,

they can sustain life on our planet.

mogu da održe život na zemlji.

Just as water drops come together to form oceans,

Baš kao što se kapljice vode združuju da stvore okeane,

I believe that we all must come together

verujem da svi mi moramo da se udružimo

when tackling this global problem.

u borbi protiv ovog globalnog problema.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)