Academics · 30 October 2026
Solar water purifier wins the senior science fair
Forty two projects, six judges and a cassava peel bioplastic that impressed everyone in the room.
For one Friday every October, the science block becomes a market. Students stand behind tables of wires, jars and posters, and anyone who walks past gets an explanation whether they asked for one or not.
The winners
A solar powered water purifier
Three SSS 2 students built a still from scrap glass and an old radiator that produces four litres of clean water a day from rainwater, with no power supply.
Bioplastic from cassava peels
A flexible, compostable film made from kitchen waste. The judges asked for a sample to take home.
Measuring noise on the ring road
A phone based sound survey of six junctions, with a clear map of the noisiest times of day.
Example results for this demo.
The judges
This year's six judges included two university lecturers, an engineer from a water company, a doctor, and two old students who now work in software and agriculture. Each project was judged on the question, the method, the results and how well the students could explain them.
The best projects began with a real problem in the students' own homes. That is exactly how good science starts.
In pictures
What happens next
The top three projects go forward to the state schools science exhibition in February. Junior students will run their own fair in the third term, with a category for projects built entirely from recycled materials.