By Barakah Adedeji, Cypress Park HS (A High School Journalism Network Collaboration)

Ivana Galic and Antonio Gomez Pedroso, Cypress Park High School science teachers, are members of a Rice University WaTER Institute cohort that is working to develop sustainable water treatment systems for communities where water is hard to come by. Galic and Gomez Pedroso, along with Brianna Hypolite, Bridgeland High School science teacher, are working with their students to develop their own water treatment projects. Final projects will be showcased at Rice University on April 24. 

“The prototype I’m working on is to harvest water from the atmosphere because we all know that there’s dew in the atmosphere,” Galic said. “What prompted my thinking behind this was whenever we have a hurricane, water systems shut down. There’s not enough water because the water filtration system the city has is not functioning because there’s no electricity. In those instances, if everyone has their own personal kit that they could use to harvest water from the atmosphere, at least we wouldn’t die of thirst. It’s also important that it’s cost effective and that it’s easy to make.”

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Galic’s prototype features a net or “web” layer to collect dew, a cup to store the collected water, a plastic layer to prevent evaporation and ensure the collection of water, and a string for it to hang outside.

Gomez Pedroso and his students are working on desalinating water from the ocean. Their model features a smaller glass with salt water inside with a larger glass container around it to expose water to sunlight in hopes that the salt evaporates, which in turn would leave drinkable water.

“We’re dealing with how effective it can be and we’re trying to help coastal communities when they’ve been hit by a disaster,” Gomez Pedroso said. “What are the alternatives to access water in the situation where you’ve lost power? This is something we think can relieve communities from that stress.”

Ivana Galic, left, and Antonio Gomez Pedroso, right, Cypress Park High School science teachers, are both members of a

Many teachers in the Houston area, including teachers from Katy ISD and Houston ISD, are among those working with the cohort. This program is subsidized by funds from the National Science Foundation. The Rice WaTER Institute is working with Arizona State University, Yale University and the University of Texas at El Paso on studies in nanotechnology to help solve the current water crisis. 

Visit the Rice WaTER Institute website for more information.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Barakah Adedeji, a student at Cypress Park High School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, through a partnership between My Neighborhood News and the District as part of an established high school journalism network collaboration. My Neighborhood News is a proud supporter of local youth and warmly welcomes the opportunity to provide a platform for students to share their work.