Fiji was very welcoming and open to his ideas and Darrel began to prepare for his first trip to Fiji. Our first trip to Fiji was in August 2008 and we met with the Fijian Government to survey the need for clean water. He had originally planned on using a BioSand filtration system that is commonly used by other organizations; however, the filtration system is cumbersome, labor intensive, and costly.

Two weeks before his first trip to Fiji, a Sawyer Products released a new top-of-the-line water filter called the Point One Filter. Darrel brought two of the new water filters with him to Fiji and after performing water testing and analysis on the new water filter, was convinced that this filter was going to be the most effective tool for accomplishing his mission of solving water issues.

After the August trip, Darrel felt that it was tangible to solve Fiji’s entire water problem using the Point One filter and decided to start a nonprofit organization called Give Clean Water, based out of San Diego, California. Give Clean Water was one of the first organizations to use this filter for international development projects.

The first official Give Clean Water trip was in October 2008, through which the organization’s volunteers donated and installed over 450 water filters in Fiji. What makes Give Clean Water stand out is its focus on impact analysis using data collection and follow up visitations. Give Clean Water is dedicated to ensuring its work in Fiji is valid and backed with tangible, evident results.

We call this the “Give Clean Water Way.”