Afrinspire has supported the social enterprise start-up Blue Tap since 2018 alongside our main partner, Nkamuhebwa Willy of AIDTS in Mbarara, Uganda. Afrinspire has provided the contacts and the base of the Development Studies Centre in Mbarara from which Blue Tap can field test their product.
Blue Tap has just returned from their most recent field trip in Uganda, where they have been training local plumbers in the Blue Tap technology. Hear more about their trip from founder and CEO Francesca here.
Blue Tap began in 2016 as a technology company with the aim to improve access to high quality drinking water in low resource settings. Their core product, the chlorine injector, is designed to automatically inject chlorine into household-level water systems.
Blue Tap is utilising 3D printing technology to create a chlorine injector which automatically chlorinates the water in household-level water systems, providing safe water for families to drink and lowering the incident rates of waterborne illnesses. The Blue Tap chlorine injector offers a more affordable, durable alternative to current water purification technology and enables the precise control of the amount of chlorine injected. In addition to creating this product, Blue Tap aims to build local water entrepreneurship movement, helping plumbers build their business from selling, installing and maintaining the Blue Tap technology in the communities that will benefit from it most.
Afrinspire introduced Blue Tap to partners in Uganda, including the Mbarara Development Studies Centre and the Kigezi Diocese Water and Sanitation Project. The Mbarara Development Studies Centre connected them with the Mbarara Plumber’s Association which have provided important local knowledge for assessing the need for the product in the local area. Many of these plumbers have recently been trained in the Blue Tap technology, and in business and administration skills to support them in growing their own enterprises with the Blue Tap technology.
In return for their valuable help, Blue Tap funded the installation of a rainwater harvesting system and tank at the Development Studies Centre so that the students can have a back-up water supply and greater water security in times of drought.
Read more about Blue Tap here. The children in the photo on the home page are from one of our partner schools, Shuuku Vocational Secondary School, while on a walk up a valley to the school water source.
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