Africa is a continent full of frugal inventors – people who see solutions to common problems that also repurpose things others might consider waste. So it is with a filtering device that is providing clean, safe water in remote areas of Uganda where access to water is limited, especially in refugee camps and schools.

Timothy Kayondo is an industrial chemist graduate from Makerere University. As part of his studies, he looked at how quickly the chlorine in Kampala’s public water supply decays between the reservoirs and the taps in residents’ homes. The chlorine, which purifies water, often has dissipated by the time the water arrives at a person’s home.