From H2No to H2O. Clean water is a problem. We need big ideas, bold ideas, and ideas that will work. Enter Mikayla Sharrieff, India Skinner and Bria Snell, juniors at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington, D.C. Their team is known as S3.

How often have you seen an old water fountain and wondered, "is that water safe to drink?" It's a problem in public building throughout the United States, but particularly in older school buildings. In a NASA-sponsored competition, they created a super cool filter to purify drinking water. How cool is that? 

The image above is their original sketch for their project. You can see all of their design specs and their solutions here. 

In their statement, S3 says, “In older structured homes and buildings, lead pipes have been an issue in the media. In D.C. they’re currently renovating many public schools. As a result, we have a mission to be a part of the community activism and history in the making. Our water filtration system can help aid in that mission.” 

How cool is that? Let's celebrate girl innovators everywhere! Congratulations to Mikayla, India, and Bria for a fascinating and innovative take on water purification. 

See their statement here.