The bug bit them young. Mansi Kulshreshta and Rishti Kaura were only in their first year of college in Agra when they felt they must do something to protect people in neighboring villages from the crippling bone diseases and dental decay caused by high levels of fluoride in local well water.  

Putting their lessons to good use, and taking the help of their Chemistry and Zoology teachers, they have come up with a safe and easy-to-use water filter using an unusual bio-membrane. After trying potato and garlic skins, they settled for the fine inner membrane of the onion - a must in every Indian kitchen. Easily inserted into a household tap, four paper-fine layers of the membrane can filter 50 to 60 percent of harmful fluoride from drinking water.

Their quest for a natural filter sprang from the fact that commercial water filters were either too expensive or tended to use aluminium – a harmful substance when ingested.  The girls plan to use their grant money to train about 2500 people in three of the most affected villages in Bichpuri Block to make and use these simple and effective drinking water filters.