Bluewater says million dollar urban drinking water scarcity challenge is geared to find solutions to clean drinking water scarcity
Stockholm, Sweden, March 22, 2018 –– As the world celebrates World Water Day, Bluewater, a world leader in innovative water purification technologies, announces a global million dollar urban drinking water scarcity challenge geared to identify and deploy entrepreneurial solutions to tackle clean drinking water issues in mega-cities across the planet. Bluewater says the initiative is designed to address urban drinking water scarcity challenges in a world where the UN predicts some 5.7 billion people will be living in urban areas running short of drinking water by 2050.
Bluewater said the initiative, announced just ahead of World Water Day 2018, is in collaboration with 11th Hour Racing and Imagine H2O, the water innovation accelerator. In practical terms, the program will include mentorship and capacity development, customer and investor connections, marketing and visibility, deployment awards and potential follow-on investment.
“We want to unleash the power of the world’s water entrepreneurship and innovation to find solutions to the urban drinking water scarcity nightmare scenario flagged by the United Nations,” said Bluewater President Anders Jacobson, also co-founder and CEO of Bluewater’s holding company, Blue.
He noted how the specter of a collapse in urban water supply came close to becoming a reality in Cape Town earlier this year as the South African city faced extreme rationing and the closing of household taps. Cape Town is not alone. According to a 2014 study reported in Global Environmental Change journal, one in four cities of 200 studied are already in a situation of ‘water stress’, including London, Moscow, Beijing and Los Angeles.
The United Nations World Water Development Report, ‘Nature-based Solutions for Water’, launched in conjunction to World Water Day 2018, noted how water pollution has worsened in almost all rivers in Africa, Asia and Latin America. With almost 6.6 billion people predicted to be living in cities by 2050 out of a total global population of over ten billion, the UN said water quality can be expected to further deteriorate over the next decades and increase threats to human health, the environment and sustainable development.
Mr. Jacobson said the Imagine H2O Urban Drinking Water Scarcity Challenge is directed at creating direct and scalable impact for water-scarce cities and at-risk communities, inspire community awareness and public action, promote the role of innovation and entrepreneurship, and facilitate the deployment of real solutions to a real problem.
A survey in the United States by Bluewater in January 2018 indicated the majority of Americans worry that their water supply is contaminated harmful contaminants like lead, bacteria, carcinogens, and microplastics. The Bluewater survey also found nearly 70 percent of Americans relied on bottled water in some capacity, with one-third (33%) drinking more than five bottles per week.
“Together with our partners at 11th Hour Racing and Imagine H2O we want to solve the challenge of both providing clean drinking water and avoiding the need for single-use plastic bottles, which are posing a huge threat to the health of humans and the planet,” Anders Jacobson said.
The Global Innovation Challenge will be opened to applications during April 2018, more information is available here.
About Imagine H2O
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, organization’s program alumni have collectively raised more than 1 in every 10 dollars of venture capital in the water industry. www.ImagineH2O.org
About 11th Hour Racing
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
About Bluewater
Bluewater is a world leader innovating, manufacturing, and commercializing water purification technologies and solutions that harness the company’s patented reverse osmosis technology to remove virtually all pollutants from water, including lead, bacteria, pesticides, medical residues, chlorine, micro plastic fibres and lime-scale. Please visit us at www.bluewatergroup.com
For more information please contact David Noble, Bluewater head of PR & Communication, at david.noble@bluewatergroup.com or +7785 302 694
Bluewater and 11th Hour Racing are signatories to the United Nations #CleanSeas Pledge.