story by: DAVE KING

A Derbyshire charity providing clean water filtration systems saving lives in some ​of the world’s most disaster-hit places has officially cut the ribbon on a new ​assembly room which will double production from 3,000 to 6,000 water filters a ​year.

Outgoing Derbyshire High Sheriff, Theresa Peltier, did the honours at Aquabox’s ​base at Wirksworth near Chesterfield, officially opening its ‘Aquaboost’ project ​which is seeing its team of committed volunteers vastly scale up production.

The charity makes filtration systems that it then distributes to the world’s most ​troubled areas, where the impact of disaster or conflict means people lack the ​basic human need of clean water.

Originally established by Wirksworth Rotary Club in 1992, Aquabox has sent ​more than 125,000 aid boxes to more than 50 countries around the world, ​converting an estimated two billion litres of contaminated water so that it is ​clean and safe to drink.

Now the charity has been kitted out with a brand new assembly room and has ​also transformed its processes through the Lean Sigma manufacturing ​programme, made famous by Toyota.

The new room and systems now mean that the charity can make twice as many ​Aquabox family filters, benefiting many more thousands of people around the ​world.

Theresa said she had been blown away by the new production facilities at ​Aquabox and it had been a privilege to officially open them.

She said: “This is an incredible charity right here in the heart of Derbyshire and ​I’m delighted to have been able to visit during my year of being High Sheriff. The ​work that these committed volunteers at Aquabox are doing every day to provide ​clean water in some of the most war-torn parts of the world is simply mind-​blowing.”

During Theresa’s visit, she participated in a phone call between charity trustee, ​Cheryle Berry, with a member of a Rotary club in Ukraine which is distributing ​Aquabox systems there. Cheryle, who is chair of the Children in Ukraine sub-​group for Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland, was talking to Serhiy Zavadsky who ​leads the Rotary team in Ukraine, along with Yulia Pavichenko, who chairs the ​Rotary club’s Children’s Group in Ukraine.

Theresa said: “It was very emotional for me to be able to take part in Cheryle’s ​phone call with Rotary club members in Ukraine, and see first-hand the impact ​that this charity’s work is having.

“I was so impressed by their Aquaboost project to double production from 3,000 ​filtration systems a year to a massive 6,000. I wish them all the very best.”

Over the years, Aquabox has been sending filtration systems to over 50 countries ​including Nepal, Syria, Ukraine and Turkey, responding to natural disasters such ​as earthquakes, or areas beset by conflict where people are desperate for ​humanitarian aid.

Its Aqua-aid boxes contain a family water filter, plus 40 items like tools, lighting, ​survival aids, cooking equipment, educational aids and hygiene provisions, ​carefully chosen through negotiation with the charity’s partners in refugee camps ​and disaster areas.

The charity supplies two types of filtration system: a family filter, which cleans ​water at a rate of a litre a minute and is assembled here in Wirksworth, and a ​community filter which uses the same technology but scaled up to meet the ​needs of more people.

The new systems implemented through the Aquaboost project means volunteers ​in Wirksworth – who range in age from people in their 40s to their 90s - can make ​a family water filter in 16 minutes.

The Aquabox trustee, Dominic Wish, said: “We are excited by our Aquaboost ​project which is allowing us to scale up our life-saving work by a huge degree. We ​are almost entirely run by volunteers, and we are delighted to use our ​background in engineering and other industries to be working on such a valuable ​charity that has a simple aim: providing clean water to people in the world who ​really need it.

“We are all human-beings and we all need water. We will continue our work to ​provide it.”

Fellow trustee, Rob Barlow, added “Many thanks to Theresa Peltier for doing us ​the honour of opening our new Aquaboost assembly room. It was brilliant that ​she took time out to visit our charity and we are very proud to be able to show ​off our new system and production area.

“It will be making a very significant difference to people around the world who ​are going through appalling situations. It is saving lives and we are looking ​forward to the next chapter for Aquabox.”

Aquabox would like to thank the following organisations for providing help with ​the Aquaboost project: Forged Solutions Ltd, of Darley Dale; Pratt and Whitney; ​ITP Aero of Hucknall; Compressors Ltd of Alfreton; Desoutter UK Ltd and Premier ​Precision Engineering of Chesterfield.