High Schooler Develops an Affordable Way To Filter Microplastics From Drinking Water

High Schooler Develops an Affordable Way To Filter Microplastics From Drinking Water This past spring, high school student Mia Heller received a special award during the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Ohio. Distributed by the Patent and Trademark Office Society (PTOS), the $500 prize recognized Heller’s achievement in water filtration technology, which focused on removing microplastics from water without the high price tag. According to […] READ: High Schooler Develops an Affordable Way To Filter Microplastics From Drinking Water

Art Sep 12, 2025 0 13 Add to Reading List

High Schooler Develops an Affordable Way To Filter Microplastics From Drinking Water

A man filling up a water bottle with tap water

Photo: Bluewater Sweden via Unsplash

This past spring, high school student Mia Heller received a special award during the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Ohio. Distributed by the Patent and Trademark Office Society (PTOS), the $500 prize recognized Heller’s achievement in water filtration technology, which focused on removing microplastics from water without the high price tag.

According to her project summary, Heller’s filtration system incorporated ferrofluid, a carrier liquid containing magnetic particles. Unlike traditional filtration systems, many of which are costly and rely on chemical treatments, a ferrofluid-based process offers a “cost-effective, energy-efficient, and sustainable solution” to microplastics and their increasing encroachment on drinking water.

“Microplastics have been found from the Mariana Trench to Mount Everest, and from the human brain to the placenta of unborn fetuses,” Heller, who attends Mountain Vista Governor's School in Virginia, writes. “Microplastic exposure is linked to an increased risk of cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and hormonal disruptions, and disproportionately affects underserved populations.”

For the conference, Heller presented a 3D-printed prototype that pumped a canola oil-based ferrofluid into microplastic-contaminated water. The mixture was then processed through a magnetic separator and layered filter to remove microplastics and separate the ferrofluid, ultimately purifying the water while also recycling about 87% of the ferrofluid. Impressively, Heller also found that the prototype managed to remove nearly 96% of microplastics from the contaminated water.

“The system developed offers a potential alternative to existing filtration technologies, and in regions facing barriers to clean water access, could turn the tide on the way water pollution is addressed,” Heller adds.

In an era of intense pollution and climate disaster, such a project is needed now more than ever. To date, microplastics have been found in 1,300 species, including humans, per a recent report by Stanford University. Beyond that, an estimated 10 to 40 million metric tons of these plastic fragments are released into the environment every year—a number that could easily double by 2040 if current trends continue.

“All of us need to stop using plastic as much as we can to protect our health, especially single-use plastics,” Desiree LaBeaud, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medicine, encouraged.

Aside from her $500 prize from PTOS, Heller also earned top honors at the Virginia Piedmont Regional Science Fair in Charlottesville this past March. Read more about Heller’s award-winning “Self-Recycling System for Microplastic Removal,” visit the project’s dedicated landing page on ISEF.