Petra Wadström

Petra Wadström (born 20 February 1952) is a Swedish inventor of a water purification device called Solvatten, which is a portable device that heats and purifies dirty local water in locations with access to significant amounts of sunshine.

Life and work

Wadström did biochemical medical research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and then moved to Basel, Switzerland, to join a team exploring DNA research.

While living in Australia for a year in the late 1990s, Wadström tackled one problem of families living off-the-grid, lack of access to clean water. She chose to use the power of intense sunshine.

Wadström is a founder and Senior Advisor of the social enterprise Solvatten AB, which was established in Sweden in 2013 to expand access to the device around the world.

Selected awards 2008, Skapa Prize

Personal life Wadström and husband Carl have four children.