The contest is a follow-up of COP 21 Conference in Paris last year. Aimed at enhancing Vietnam’s clean water management capacity, the contest received nearly 20 entries from across Vietnam. After more than 4 months, the Swedish Embassy announced the winners of the contest on June 6th.
In 2015, for every 100 cubic metres of tap water in Ho Chi Minh City, 30 cubic metres were wasted due to leakages. This figure is much higher than other cities in the world. In a bid to improve this situation, 3 students from the Ho Chi Minh University of Technology came up with the idea of a smartphone app, which allows people to report water leakage from anywhere and at anytime. This initiative won the 2016 Smart Water Innovation Contest.
Nguyen Tran Quang Khai, Student of Ho Chi Minh University of Technology, 2016 Smart Water Innovation Contest Winner said: “When people detect leakages, they just need to open the app and GPS will reveal their locations. This app can also include a city map or the structure of a building”.
After determining the location of leakage, people will use the app to notification an announcement to the water management agency. Once this initiative is implemented the app will simplify the way people report leakages.
Trinh Quoc Anh, Student of Ho Chi Minh University of Technology, 2016 Smart Water Innovation Contest Winner said: “With this idea, we want to convey a message that everyone can protect the environment and reduce losses from water leaks and everyone should be responsible for this issue”.
The 3 winners of the contest will visit Stockholm, Sweden, where they will attend the annual global World Water Week event in late August. The winners are intending to implement their initiative and introduce the app at the event in Stockholm.
