Rhett Butler

Mr Rhett Butler is Foundation Chairman of SkyJuice. Rhett is also Chair of the Research Advisory Committee at National Centre of Excellence for Desalination (NCEDA). Few people remember what kept them up at night 25 years ago but mechanical engineer and Skyjuice founder Rhett Butler does. “Guilt,” he says simply. Twenty years ago, Rhett Butler saw many children in developing regions drinking polluted water. As a result, he developed a unique solution that led to the formation of Skyjuice, an organisation that uses Australian technology to provide world-class safe, potable water to remote, low-income communities for as little as 20 cents per person, per annum. Skyjuice uses the technology Rhett developed in his garage, an ultrafiltration membrane made up of thousands of microporous hollow fibres based on the filtration system used at treatment plants in major cities. Rhett credits much of his work to an Australian education, having earned three Master’s degrees – Science, Engineering and Business Administration – in Australia. Today, he is an Associate Professor of Engineering and part-time lecturer at the University of Sydney. SkyJuice has supplied about 2500 installations to 53 countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and Central and South America. SkyJuice Foundation Chairman, Mr Rhett Butler was awarded an Australia Medal in the Australia Day Honours List for services to the international community.