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A Jackson State University student invention will help against lead problems in drinking water. Lamonte Pierce invented and patented a straw that he says filters lead and other contaminants from drinking water. Pierce created the Cleanstraww because he grew tired of getting boil-water alerts from the city of Jackson, Mississippi.

“Every time I look around, there is a boil-water alert. Matter of fact, when I woke up (Friday) morning to take a shower, the water was coming out brown — literally muddy, sludge brown,” Pierce told ABC 16. “Imagine having to drink something like that. You shouldn’t have to go out and buy water when you have it flowing through your house.”

Walmart has offered Pierce a vendor contract to supply 4,000 stores with his filtration straws. Pierce hasn’t accepted the offer yet but hopes to sell his Cleanstraww in major stores soon. Pierce who is currently a graduate student and earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from Jackson State in 2017 and currently works full-time in the IT department at Jackson Public Schools as a network analyst.

Pierce partnered with Andrew Willis, a fellow JSU graduate to develop the invention as part of a 3D-printing challenge at a cyberlearning summit on the campus according to Jackson Free Press.

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