More Action, Less Words Sustainability Call By Bluewater, Announces US$1M Challenge For Drinking Water Innovation

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., May 03, 2018 -- Bluewater, a world leading drinking water technologies innovator, today announced a US$1M Challenge For Drinking Water Innovation at the Sustainable Innovation in Sport Conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Bluewater President Anders Jacobson called on over 120 sports sector movers and shakers at the conference to turn words into action by harnessing existing solutions to solve the issues of delivering sustainable drinking water to fans at sports stadiums and other events.

“While many sporting federations, associations and individual clubs have moved their sustainability visions forward we need to fast-track the discussion forward to concrete action harnessing existing solutions that can help stop the plague of single-use plastics," said Anders Jacobson.

Noting Bluewater already today is providing drinking water from non-potable sources that are helping cities like Cape Town deal with water scarcity issues, Jacobson said Bluewater was launching its urban drinking water challenge to encourage water entrepreneurs globally to come up with tomorrow’s solutions. 

The Challenge initiative is run together with Imagine H2O, the water innovation accelerator, and 11th Hour Racing, which promote collaborative, systemic change benefitting the health of our ocean.

“The Bluewater urban drinking water challenge is directed at unleashing the power of water entrepreneurship and innovation to find solutions to the urban drinking water scarcity nightmare scenario flagged by the United Nations,” said Anders Jacobson. 

Eligible startups with scalable drinking water solutions are invited to submit complete applications by July 2, 2018 here. The Challenge’s Founding Partners, 11th Hour Racing and Bluewater Group, have collectively committed up to $1,000,000 in cash awards and investment to three overall winners.

The Challenge aligns with U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 6, or SDG6, which calls for universal access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030. The three winning startups will be honored at a special event held during Stockholm World Water Week on August 26-31, 2018.

"We are driving the Challenge because we believe human ingenuity can evolve, refine and develop technologies that create sustainable solutions to urban water scarcity issues," said Anders Jacobson.

- Imagine H2O is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people to deploy and develop innovation to solve water challenges globally. The organization’s water innovation accelerator provides entrepreneurs with the resources, insight and visibility to launch and scale water solutions. By partnering with industry and policy experts and a global network of customers and investors, Imagine H2O has become a proven path to market for emerging water technology businesses. Since 2009, the organization’s program alumni have collectively raised more than 1 in every 10 dollars of venture capital in the water industry. www.ImagineH2O.org

- 11th Hour Racing establishes strategic partnerships within the sailing and maritime communities to promote collaborative, systemic change benefitting the health of our ocean. Since 2010, 11th Hour Racing has been harnessing the power of sport with an innovative and comprehensive approach through three primary areas of engagement: grantees, partners, and ambassadors. Please visit us at www.11thhourracing.org.

- Bluewater is a world leader in innovating, manufacturing, and commercializing water purification technologies and solutions for residential, business and public use that harness the company’s patented reverse osmosis technology to remove virtually all pollutants from water, including micro plastic fibers, lead, bacteria, pesticides, medical residues, chlorine, micro plastic fibers and lime-scale. Please visit us at http://www.bluewatergroup.com.

For more information please contact David Noble. Head of PR and Communication, at [email protected] or +44 7785 302 694