Opblue is a registered Australian Charity, dedicated to providing relief to those effected by the clean water crisis. We do this by implementing strong, short term solutions to families, communities and schools. With the use of Sawyer Filtration Systems, a simple, easy yet effective gravity fed system, these portable filters simple attach to a bucket or tank, and can provide clean drinking water for up to 5 years reaching up to 100 people per filter. 

Inspired by the beautiful children of Huruma Children’s home, Nairobi, Kenya. The joy and motivation shining from Huruma is life changing, our initial steps to founding the project were taken well before this trip, but the project looked a little different back then, focusing on the plastic pollution crisis. I learnt so much about myself in Africa, and the project slowly grew into a platform orientated around the clean water crisis. The cards we have been dealt with in Australia, clean water, education, a roof over our head, motivates us to give back to the country that gives us so much hope.

We are fortunate enough in live in an area where clean water literally falls from the sky, yet over 800 million people in this world lack access without means of filtration. With children left the most venerable to waterborne diseases, and woman left to carry the burden of finding clean water, this crisis is locking communities in rural developing countries into poverty for generations. 

Access to safe drinking water is a stepping stone to change for areas as such, a game changer providing clean water not only to drink or cook, but to improve hygiene and sanitation. With access to clean water, a ripple effect begins, healthier children means more time in school, and men and woman at work, growing a stronger foundation to build a positive future in areas which all seemed a lost.

Currently, we use 20L - 30L buckets attached to the Sawyer Filtration Systems, but in recent weeks, we have been working on a project we call a 'Community System". These Community Systems use a larger 700L - 1000L tank attached to 4 filters, placed in the middle of a community. In correlation with bucket filters, dependant on the dynamic of the community, our reach can be broadened to reach more of those in these areas without access to safe drinking water. 

Pushing forward, we have a few projects in the works, tying in disaster response and recovery, but we will keep those cards close to our chest until the time is right.