Improving water pump maintenance was the focus for both winning teams in the second annual Xylem Ignite Global Student Innovation Challenge.

More than 800 high school and university students from around the world took part in the challenge from technology company Xylem to take on water and climate issues.

Team SWiFT from Santa Clara, California, was the grand prize winner in the secondary school category, awarded for their efforts to improve the lifespan of a water pump. By creating a unique design to reduce repair times, and provide easy access to troubleshooting, the team was able to address a 30% pump failure rate.

“The big problem is that water scarcity and water stress are plaguing many countries in Africa,” noted the team. “More than one million hand-pumps installed there support rural communities, with one-in-five people relying on them for drinking water.”

Team AquaFlo from Ontario and British Columbia in Canada was the grand prize winner in the university category for their design of two different technical solutions to notify users when a hand-pump is out of service. Their concept includes an innovative mobile app, interactive voice response and an automated message service system.

“We are passionate about using technology for social good and were immediately drawn to the challenge of keeping water flowing in rural communities,” the AquaFlo team noted. “We saw a real opportunity for us to improve the quality of life for a significant part of the population.”

Patrick Decker, chief executive of Xylem said, "We’re committed to championing student innovators because young people hold the key to a more water-secure future,” said . “The results of this year’s competition show the power of their creativity and passion to address major water challenges.”

Now in its second year, the Xylem Ignite Global Student Innovation Challenge drew interest from students in 51 countries. Over an eight-week period, students were tasked with developing ideas to solve one of four critical water challenges—data storytelling for water insecurity, creating a floating city master plan, keeping water flowing in rural communities and kickstarting water’s race to net zero.

Xylem will recognise the grand prize winners in a virtual ceremony to be held today. In total, the judges identified 12 winning teams who will receive money from the US$20,000 prize pool.

The winners of this year’s competition will also be given the opportunity to enroll in Xylem’s Ignite Innovation Incubator, a programme that provides support for participants to scale their concepts and advance them toward market readiness.