June 23, 2025
Two Cherbourg organisations are now making water straight out of fresh air, thanks to a free community scheme set up by Australian Army veteran Shannon Lemanski and his wife Dannii.
Shannon is the the co-founder of Aqua Ubique, a company which aims to provide clean drinking water anywhere, but especially in remote communities.
The need for clean, uncontaminated water was brought home to Shannon while he was in the army.
He saw people in Papua New Guinea using discarded plastic bottles to collect rainwater rather then use contaminated creek water, and thought there must be a better way.
This led to the creation of Aqua Ubique with fellow veteran Andrew Warner.
The company leases water units which capture humidity out of the air which is then converted into high-quality drinking water.
In 2024, Shannon attended Forward Fest 24, a networking event for entrepreneurs organised by the Queensland Social Enterprise Council.
A new idea started to take shape after he met Siehanna Mickelo, from Cherbourg Council, at the event.
Under the “Drop4Drop” idea, Aqua Ubique’s MG10 water units could be provided at no cost to a community, funded through a give-back model where every five commercial units leased could fund one free community machine.
Shannon said he had learned about some of the water issues that the Cherbourg community had faced in recent years from media coverage.
The first two “Drop4Drop” machines were installed at Gundoo Day Care and Pinangba Ny-Ku Byun Elders Village in Cherbourg last month.
The two MG10 units, which just require a power point, were funded by small businesses on the Sunshine Coast.
Shannon said the response to the installations had been fantastic.
“Staff, residents, and the kids are all loving it,” he said.
