Lamonte Pierce must’ve been taught not to complain about problems if he didn’t offer solutions. According to Jackson Free Press, the 36-year-old Jackson State University (JSU) graduate student got tired of receiving boil-water alerts in his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. He decided to do something about it.

He invented the “Cleanstraww,” a reusable straw that is actually a water filtration system. Originally believing the product to be so simple someone had likely already created it, Pierce had the opportunity to execute his idea in a 3D Printing challenge during a cyber learning summit in 2016.

According to its website, “Cleanstraww is powered by a 3-step filtering process using special patented FDA compliant material that helps separate particles and sediment from water on demand using the force of your mouth.”

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Pierce said using water filtration systems is healthier than drinking water from plastic bottles because there are still lots of impurities in the water and it’s not as clean as some people think.

Once word of his product got out, Pierce was offered a vendor contract to supply 4,000 Walmart stores with his filtration straws, reported WAPT 16. He is being celebrated for his ingenuity.

“I want to make this straw readily available everywhere and for it to become a household product that can surpass bottled water, which can also have a lot of impurities and often isn’t as filtered as a lot of people may think,” Pierce said.

Pierce went back to college after spending years in Mississippi’s workforce. In addition to being an innovative inventor, he currently works for Jackson Public Schools as a network analyst.