Francesca O’​Hanlon, Blue Tap founder, was interviewed by UN ​Environment ​and spoke about her ​work and what ​it takes to be ​an environmental ​entrepreneur:
What inspired you to start Blue Tap?
I was building a chlorine injector for Engineers Without Borders in Mexico. They found that their customers were not drinking the water as much as the organization wanted to, because the chlorine tablets would not disperse properly, meaning that some cups of water were highly chlorinated, and others not at all. My task was to work on designing a chlorine injector. I then set the project aside and went back to university to study for a master’s degree. After that, I worked with Doctors Without Borders, where I spent one year working in South Sudan and six months in Central Africa Republic, providing water and sanitation to displaced populations. I was responsible for ordering a chlorine injector, but the cost was extortionate – around US$1,600. When I started studying for my PhD, I started exploring the idea of developing a low-cost chlorine injector using 3D printing.
Read the full interview here.