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he weather is warming up, but next time you reach for your drink bottle consider there are a billion people worldwide who don’t have access to clean water. Rob Shackleford from LifeStraw Australia says the humanitarian need caused by waterborne diseases is bigger than malaria. “Every day 6000 people die as a result, and the majority are children,” he says. LifeStraw is a small but effective water filtration device designed to prevent common waterborne diseases, and can filter 1000 litres of drinking water (roughly 18 months’ worth for an adult). The larger LifeStraw Family unit can be installed in villages and households and provides clean, filtered water for a family of five for three years. LifeStraw’s overseas manufacturer distributes to the United Nations, humanitarian groups and military units worldwide, but Shackleford’s Woombye-based organisation is the only one that provides the devices to the public. This means locals can purchase a LifeStraw for their own use when camping or travelling overseas, “but at the same time raise money for humanitarian aid”, he says. They can also donate a unit. LifeStraw Australia has established a fundraising partnership with The Rotary Club of Buderim, and if you donate a LifeStraw ($30) or LifeStraw Family unit ($90) via the club LifeStraw Australia will match the donation. Shackleford says the cost is relatively low considering the filter’s capacity equates to a pallet of bottled drinking water, which would
One straw can filter 1000 litres be much more expensive and difficult to transport. Twelve-hundred family units were donated during last year’s floods in Thailand and Shackleford says one unit was supplying filtered water to at least 30 people. “For them it’s a lifesaving thing – a family has clean drinking water, something we take for granted.” Local businessman Mark Stitt, the director of Suncoast Fitness, became involved with the LifeStraw Australia project several years ago and next week will deliver 150 family units to Fiji, which has an ongoing water contamination problem. “The Rotary Club of Nadi has helped us identify 20 villages that have a high need of cleaner water,” Stitt says. “Most of these villages are getting water from an estuary, which is also the rubbish tip and where animals go when they die.” While LifeStraws have been heavily used in Africa, Stitt is keen to see more Australians get behind the project, to raise awareness of the need for clean water in our neighbouring countries. “Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea,” Stitt says. “Many of us go to these amazing resorts and we’re not aware of the humanitarian crisis in the country.” For more information or to donate a LifeStraw visit lifestraw.com.au.
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