After battling multiple infections picked up during practice swimming sessions in purportedly “safe chlorinated” public swimming pools in the pink city, Advika Sahney (17), a class XII student of the top-ranked Jayshree Periwal International School (JPIS), Jaipur, has invented a compact real time water hygiene monitoring device named DipSafe. This device enables swimmers to check water quality before diving into swimming pools.

“DipSafe is a compact device combining key water quality sensors – a pH, TDS, turbidity, DS18B20 waterproof and chlorine — connected to an Arduino Nano. It runs on a Li-ion battery and shows results on an LCD screen. Half the box remains under water while the other half displays real-time readings above. Swimming attendance has risen by 10 percent at my school pool after parents were convinced of high standards of pool hygiene,” says Advika.

For her innovation, she was presented the Crest Gold Award 2025 of the British Science Association. Her invention also made it to the second round of the prestigious Shing Tung Yau High School Science Award (ASIA) named after the renowned Chinese-American mathematician.

The younger child of Sunita and Mohit Sahney – co-founders of a non-banking finance company — Advika is hugely inspired by her parents’ problems-solving mindset. “I attribute my achievement to parental and school support. My parents encourage me to test and start again if necessary. Similarly in Jayshree Periwal, failure is never condemned,” says this young inventor.

Advika is also thankful to JPIS’ biology and chemistry teachers who let her freely use lab equipment, to develop and perfect her utilitarian invention and also computer science teacher Suraj Kumarwho helped her with circuit building, and design.

“Hygiene and human safety is the core purpose of DipSafe. I hope it will be commercialised soon,” says Advika, who has plans to study a public health and biomedical sciences degree after completing her Plus Two. “I intend to make a career of inventing low-cost technologies to prevent diseases and improve community health,” says this public-spirited young inventor.

Wind in your sails!

– Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru)

Also Read: Young Achiever: Prateek Sethi