SS Report
Stockholm, 27 August 2025:
Amid growing concerns over climate-induced flooding, German students Niklas Ruf and Jana Spiller have won the prestigious 2025 Stockholm Junior Water Prize for developing a scalable flood warning system for small streams. The award was presented by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden during World Water Week.
The duo’s invention—a network of real-time sensors connected to a public alert app—fills a critical gap in flood preparedness, especially for small waterways where early warnings are rare. The system is already being adopted across their region, helping communities respond faster to flood threats.
Their win is particularly relevant to Bangladesh, where small and medium rivers frequently overflow during monsoon seasons, causing devastating floods in rural areas. Innovations like Ruf and Spiller’s could offer low-cost, adaptable solutions for flood-prone zones across South Asia.
The Diploma of Excellence went to Kagan Mehmet Ozkok from Türkiye, who used AI to detect water leaks by analyzing sound, a method already showing success in public spaces.
The People’s Choice Award was won by Divyasri Kothapalli from the UK for her solar-powered water distillation system, which provides clean drinking water without electricity—a potential breakthrough for off-grid Bangladeshi villages.
‘Innovation is paving the way to a more water-secure world,’ said Claudia Toussaint of Xylem, the Prize’s founding partner.
Bangladesh, facing challenges like urban water loss, rural water scarcity, and climate-driven floods, could greatly benefit from youth-led, tech-enabled solutions like those showcased at the Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2025.
Source: Stockholm Water Foundation Media Team
