THE annoying gushing sound his grandmother’s leaking toilet made led Paseka Lesolang to invent a valve, which won him first prize at the City of Johannesburg’s Green City Startup competition.
Mr Lesolang entered his invention into the competition, which began in August last year, with 68 other entrants who were whittled down to eight finalists.
The finalists were each given R250,000 to work on "green" business ideas, with a final prize of R1m for the best idea.
The four winners were announced on Monday evening in Milpark, Johannesburg.
Mr Lesolang said his invention, the WHC Leak-Less Valve, is a valve that is fitted into the toilet to stop water leaks.
The WHC Leak-Less Valve will be available to the public as soon as Mr Lesolang can produce it in bulk.
It will cost R200 but Mr Lesolang said that a partnership with the government could provide the valve to those who couldn’t afford it.
Last month President Jacob Zuma launched the "war on water leaks" plan which includes the hiring of 15,000 young people as artisans and plumbers.
Second place went to PowerOptimal co-founder and CEO Sean Moolman, who described his win as a "surprise".
Dr Moolman made a power demand management system focused on electricity use and billing management solutions.
"All our system does is intelligent management of electricity use (by shifting loads around) so it reduces high peaks... and you save money on the electricity bill. We reduce it by maybe 50% per peak and you can save 20% on your electricity bill," said Dr Moolman.
He said the next step for him is to meet the demand for his product and the money he won will go a long way to ensuring that it happens.
"I had a good job at CSIR, gave up the salary to start a business... I was the head of commercialisation at CSIR so I advised people on how to start businesses and I thought ‘how can I do that if I hadn’t done it myself’; it’s not legitimate... how do I know even if my advice works," said Dr Moolman.
He also said he chose to be an entrepreneur to create jobs: "We keep saying we need jobs ... and we’re sitting and waiting for it to happen."
The third prize was a joint prize of R300 000 to Baoberry, a company that invented the AqueouSphere, a floating wetland that treats water naturally using plants that extract pollutants from the water, and GezaJozi’s Recycle e-Trike, an electric tricycle provided to trolley recyclists for free so they can safely transport waste.
