Tullamore College win SAGE World Cup in Moscow

Devices that detect water leaks and encourage users to take shorter showers have clinched a win and $2,000 for a Tullamore College team in the SAGE World Cup in Russia.

The team was announced the winner of the social enterprise business category of the global entrepreneurship competition by Nelson Mandela’s grandson Ndaba Mandela yesterday evening (Monday) in Moscow.

Speaking after the win team member Cian Fogarty said the group of students are now looking forward to developing their business in Ireland and beyond.

Delegations from 16 countries arrived in Moscow to compete at the event last Friday. The Tullamore team beat off competition from Nigeria, South Africa and the USA in the final round of judging to win the top award.

The team developed its initiative in an effort to tackle the global issue of water shortage. They created two innovative products in their fight to reduce national and international water wastage, which they have recently begun marketing and selling to farms, homes and businesses.

Their water leak detection system for domestic, industrial and agricultural use notifies land owners or occupiers when a leak is present and identifies the source of the problem so leaks don’t go unnoticed for large periods of time, while their aqua cica shower head with integrated timed LED lights that follow a traffic light system encourages users to reduce water wastage by taking shorter showers.