Question: Why do you think this will affect the future in any way?

Natalie Lamb answered on 5 Mar 2019:

I wasn’t sure if you meant how much research would affect the future or how running the science festival would help the future so I thought I’d answer both!

In the future, climate change means there will be less drinking water for us to drink and what is still there will likely be more dirty and need more treatment. I’m trying to look into the best ways of treating water that removes the most organisms and uses fewer chemicals because some of the chemicals we use today have problems.

For example, chlorine is used in swimming pools because it kills any germs on your body when you get in the pool (or if you go to the toilet in the pool!). That same chlorine but in very very low amounts is used in tap water to kill germs in drinking water too. But chlorine is only made in one place in the UK so it has to get transported by big tankers. When it travels like this, a very big amount of chlorine in one place, if there is a car accident, the tanker could explode. I’m looking into safer ways of getting rid of germs from drinking water, like UV light bulbs.

If you meant the science festival that I plan to run if I get the prize of £500, I hope the science festival will make kids have fun and learn about science. Maybe even inspire the next generation of scientists!