Water is an essential human necessity and South Africa is facing a severe water crisis. Danny, Diba, Francesca and James decided to devise a solution to tackle the issue of accessible and safe drinking water for households in KwaNdengezi. Before traveling to South Africa, the team compiled a list of potential solutions, narrowing it down to providing affordable water tanks to households.

However, when they arrived in South Africa they observed that more households than expected had water tanks, but that this water was unsafe to drink and therefore mainly used for farming. They decided to look for solutions to purify the water, and found that Moringa Tree seeds are a simple, sustainable, coagulant for water purification. They conducted further research with various Moringa farm owners to explore the idea; and whilst they discovered many uses to Moringa Trees and examples of efforts to empower communities to grow and export this plant, they discovered that it is not effective in eliminating bacteria such as E-Coli.

On reflection, the team found that there were several initiatives being worked on, however there was a lack of awareness and information sharing. The team pivoted to focus on bringing together the community’s stakeholders to co-create a solution. They held a Water Innovation Networking Event inviting individuals, organisations, and entrepreneurs who shared their commitment to finding solutions to the water crisis. During this event the team shared their research and initial ideas, with the aim of starting a hub of experts and activists to look for sustainable solutions to providing safe and accessible drinking water to the community of KwaNdengezi.