New York High School Students Win 2017 U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize

RYE BROOK, N.Y., July 14, 2017 /3BL Media/ – Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL), a leading global water technology and solutions company, congratulates Rachel Chang and Ryan Thorpe of Manhasset, NY, the 2017 winners of the United States Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP), the most prestigious youth award for a water-related research project. Xylem has been a long-time leading sponsor of the U.S. SJWP and is a founding sponsor of the International Stockholm Junior Water Prize.

The competition empowers students to identify and research water issues, pursue careers in water sustainability, and raise awareness of global water challenges. The showcase contains a wide spectrum of projects that may include improvements in water quality, water resource management, water protection, drinking water and wastewater treatment. In the U.S., the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and its Member Associations organize the regional, state and national competitions with support from Xylem. 

Chang and Thorpe’s winning paper, “A Novel Approach to Rapidly and Sensitively Detect and Purify Water Contaminated with Shigella, E. coli, Salmonella, and Cholera,” highlights that waterborne diseases cause 3.4 million deaths annually. Chang and Thorpe’s winning project involved the development of an efficient and rapid method to detect minute levels of bacteria and purify the water of pathogens.

“As a leading global water technology and solutions company, we encourage and support innovative projects that focus on protecting our precious water sources,” said Colin Sabol, Senior Vice President and Chairman of the Xylem Watermark Committee at Xylem. “Year after year, we continue to be amazed by the ingenuity and ambition of these bright students and we are proud to be a long-time supporter of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize.”

The project received the top honor at the national competition held June 16-17 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where students from 48 states and Puerto Rico competed for the revered prize. Chang and Thorpe received $10,000 as well as an all-expense-paid trip to represent the United States at the international competition in August during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden. There, Chang and Thorpe will compete with more than 30 other students from around the world for the global title.

The two U.S. runners-up were Ana Humphrey of Alexandria, VA, and Apoorv Khandelhal of Sammamish, WA.  The competition also recognized Luca Barcelo of Greenwich, CT, who received the Bjorn von Euler Innovation in Water Scholarship Award, which recognizes a project that demonstrates a unique passion for education, spirit of creativity and innovation. It honors the work of former WEF board member and retired Xylem Watermark Director, Bjorn von Euler.

Xylem works to provide sustainable and efficient water solutions to the world’s most pressing water challenges. Through its corporate citizenship program Watermark, Xylem helps provide safe water resources for communities in need across the globe as well as educate people about water issues. This competition fosters excitement in young people to pursue answers to water-related problems, supporting Xylem’s mission of solving water.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to developing innovative technology solutions to the world’s water challenges. The Company’s products and services move, treat, analyze, monitor and return water to the environment in public utility, industrial, residential and commercial building services, and agricultural settings.  With its October 2016 acquisition of Sensus, Xylem added smart metering, network technologies and advanced data analytics for water, gas and electric utilities to its portfolio of solutions.  The combined Company’s nearly 16,000 employees bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on identifying comprehensive, sustainable solutions.  Headquartered in Rye Brook, New York with 2016 revenue of $3.8 billion, Xylem does business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product brands. 

The name Xylem is derived from classical Greek and is the tissue that transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of our water-centric business by linking it with the best water transportation of all – that which occurs in nature. For more information, please visit us at www.xylem.com.