Petra Wadström (born 20 February 1952) is a Swedish inventor of a water purification device called Solvatten, which is a portable device that heats and purifies dirty local water in locations with access to significant amounts of sunshine.

Life and work

Wadström did biochemical medical research at the

Karolinska Institutet The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally. ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, and then moved to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, Switzerland, to join a team exploring DNA research. While living in Australia for a year in the late 1990s, Wadström tackled one problem of families living off-the-grid, lack of access to clean water. She chose to use the power of intense sunshine. After returning to Sweden, she designed and built a device resembling a portable black container that opens like a book in direct sunshine to maximize the effect of the sun and UVB radiation. The water inside can heat to 75 degrees Celsius (167 degrees Fahrenheit), hot enough to destroy any microbes in the water and render the water drinkable. During the invention process, she built prototypes at home and tested them using wastewater from local treatment plants. Wadström's portable water treatment and water heating system can be used by people living in households with access to sunshine but no access to electricity. By using the durable Slovatten unit, families who live off-the-grid can transform water from local sources, which may not be potable, into clean hot water that can be consumed safely warm or cold. Wadström is a founder and Senior Advisor of the social enterprise Solvatten AB, which was established in Sweden in 2013 to expand access to the device around the world.

Selected awards

* 2008, Skapa prize * 2009, Wadström was also one of the eight nominees when

Veckans Affärer ''Veckans Affärer'' (, lit. "the week's business") was a Swedish business magazine published on a weekly basis in Stockholm, dealing in all business-related matters both within and outside Sweden. It was in circulation between 1965 and 2019. ...

awarded its Green Capitalist of the Year award. * 2013, Polhem Prize * 2015, Swedish Woman of the Year * 2022, KTH Great Prize

Personal life

Wadström and husband Carl have four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadstrom, Petra Living people 1952 births Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century women inventors KTH Royal Institute of Technology 21st-century Swedish inventors 21st-century Swedish women scientists 21st-century Swedish scientists