In many developing countries tap water is still a major source of illness due to the viruses and bacteria it still contains. Blue Tap propose to reduce consumer risk by delivering a simple, cost-effective chlorine doser.
By 2050, nearly 70% of the world's population will be living in urban environments. A huge number of these new residents will be rural-to-urban migrants, people moving to cities in search of a better quality of life and more job opportunities. Many houses in developing countries now have access to "improved water services", however, they still can't drink their tap water. Although the water is clear, it still contains harmful pathogens meaning people become ill or have to resort to buying bottled water. Diarrhoeal disease, which is mainly caused by contaminated water, is still the second leading cause of deaths of children under 5\. Our chlorine injection ensures that all consumers, from infant to adult, have a quality of water they can trust.
The Blue Tap team met at the University of Cambridge and have designed a chlorine doser which is simple, durable and contains no moving parts to function. It inserts the correct amount of chlorine into a clear water supply in order to make it safe to drink in accordance with the World Health Organisation's guidelines. The product is ideally suited for rainwater harvesting systems, or municipal water supplies to kill bacteria and viruses.
We consider it important to ensure that our product meets a real need and we have made multiple visits to Uganda to understand the issues. This project aims to take the chlorine doser from technology readiness level 5 to level 9, after which the processes of commercialisation, mass manufacture and exporting can occur. Blue Tap has made a phenomenal amount of progress with our founding team making three practical visits to Uganda. We now want to step up our research efforts to full-time, ready for commercialisation after 14 months.