Aquabox John Brown - Thursday 13 September @ 18.00

Aquabox John Brown - Thursday 13 September @ 18.00

AQUABOX

Many will be familiar with Shelterboxes that have been used to provide temporary accommodation, cooking utensils, blankets and other necessities for those who have suffered from earthquakes or other disasters.  Rotary has a close association with the supplier of the Shelterboxes, and has been pleased to be able to fund the supply of these in a number of cases.  Another important Rotary-associated innovation has been the development of Aquabox.  On Thursday, Rotarian John Brown spoke to the Club about this important initiative which, he said, has made a vital contribution to saving lives in disaster areas, and, indeed, in other areas where clean water is not accessible.  Aquabox is a charity and community project, set up and managed by the Rotary Club of Wirksworth, to provide access to safe drinking water through the use of high-technology water filtration units that can be sent to crisis zones around the world. The sad truth is that some 4,000 children die every day as a direct result of the lack of their access to safe drinking water.  It is this appalling statistic that Aquabox has been established to address.

As John made clear, when disaster strikes, whether it is natural or man-made, the people affected are in desperate need of safe drinking water and humanitarian help. People can manage for a time without food and shelter, but early access to safe drinking water is vital for survival.  Aquabox responds to this need by dispatching its AquaFilters and other elements of humanitarian aid.  Operated entirely by volunteers, the team works closely with selected aid agencies and distribution partners to ensure that Aquaboxes reach those most in need.  

Central to the Aquabox, which costs £150, is the AquaFilter. This uses a sophisticated microporous filtration technology, which, although hi-tech, is simple to use. The family unit can purify a litre of dirty water per minute and, over its working life, provide half a million litres of clean drinking water.  John gave a practical demonstration of the efficiency of the AquaFilter by using one to provide drinking water from a container of dirty water.  To prove his point he then drank the product, and some members of the Club joined him to confirm the purity of the water.  A larger version of the family AquaFilter is the Community Filter that can purify 360 litres an hour. 

Since its formation in 1992, Aquabox has sent more than 110,000 aid boxes to more than 50 countries around the world, helping hundreds of thousands of people in times of crisis.  An important point made by John was that, in the context of current concern about the affects of plastic on the environment, rather than the current policy of supplying water by way of plastic bottles, Aquafilters could be used to provide drinking water 

In terms of support which the public can give, John indicated that donations of knitted garments for children aged up to three are very much welcomed, as are donations of money which can be made on the website: www.aquabox.org. 

Speaker’s Host, Peter Holmes, thanked John for his excellent presentation.  The work of those providing Aquaboxes was a superb demonstration of Rotary at work.