The students’ idea is to use locally-grown cotton hairs to remove oil from water.

The research by Vo Phi Thoan, Tran Trung Hoang and Phan Phuoc Duy from the An Lac high school has surpassed 1,221 projects submitted by students across the country to win the first national prize of a contest entitled “Improving the use and protection of water resources”.

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize seeks to encourage more young people to play a part in protecting and cleaning up water on a local and global scale.

The top prize winner will receive an award of US$5,000 award and a blue crystal sculpture in the shape of a water droplet.

HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is the patron of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize.