Bluewater launches first supermarket water dispenser to help Londoners purge single-use plastic water bottles

Stockholm, Sweden, October 29, 2019 – Swedish water tech and solutions leader Bluewater is helping grocery store consumers in north London take up the battle against single-use plastic bottles with the global launch of its first in-store water dispensing station and a range of eco-friendlier, re-useable stainless steel bottles.

Shoppers at the pioneering Thornton’s Budgens supermarket in north London’s Belsize Park district can now purchase water served still or sparkling direct from an easy-to-use Bluewater station rather than plucking a plastic bottle from a store shelf.

The water is also purified to remove contaminants such as lead, medical residues, pesticides, chemicals, and micro-plastics and then re-mineralised to add trace minerals such as calcium and magnesium.

Customers are being encouraged to bring along their own refillable bottles to collect the water, or buy a durable high-quality Bluewater stainless steel bottle, which unlike their plastic counterparts, can be refilled time and again to help protect marine, human and other planet life.

“Around 525 billion plastic bottles are sold every year. Most plastic bottles are not recycled, instead ending up in landfill or our oceans to ultimately break down into micro-plastics and end up into our food and water chain,” said Bluewater founder and CEO, Bengt Rittri (photo below), a Swedish environmental entrepreneur.

Noting a recent study found microplastics in 93% of the 250 bottled water samples it tested, Mr. Rittri commended Andrew Thornton, founder of Thornton Budgens, for his commitment to take the grocery store virtually plastic-free by introducing new ways to meet consumer demand for bottled water.

“The damaging impact of plastic in the ocean and the resulting threat to health has led us to offer a choice to our consumers who want to reduce the amount of plastic in their lives,” said Andrew Thornton (pictured below), who in September saw the supermarket he started in 2006 named the UK’s ‘Most Sustainable Retailer of the Year’.

Mr. Thornton believes it’s essential for businesses to have a purpose that customers can connect with.

The heart of the Bluewater water station is a point-of-use Bluewater PRO water purifier.

The purifier harnesses a patented second-generation reverse osmosis system caller SuperiorOsmosis™ that will remove over 99% of contaminants found in municipal water. Additionally, Bluewater‘s range of high quality refill bottles are made from durable stainless steel, which unlike plastic bottles can be refilled time and again to help protect marine, human and other planet life.

“We’ve made it our mission at Bluewater to provide people everywhere clean drinking water and cut the huge plastic bottle waste that is harming wildlife and marine environments on a massive scale,” said Bengt Rittri.

Editor notes

- A 2018 study across nine countries led by microplastic researcher Sherri Mason of the State University of New York found the world’s leading brands of bottled water are contaminated with tiny plastic particles. The study found plastic in 93 percent of the bottles they sampled, including major name brands such as Aqua, Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, Nestle Pure Life and San Pellegrino.

- An article in Nature in June 2019, reported a study by scientists at Canada’s University of Victoria saying people who only drink bottled water may be swallowing up to 90,000 micro-plastic particles with their water each year, compared with just 4,000 for those who stick to tap water.

For more information, please contact David Noble, PR & Communications Director, at +44 7785 302 694 ordavid.noble@bluewatergroup.com

About Bluewater

Bluewater is a world leader innovating, manufacturing, and commercializing water purification technologies and solutions for residential, business and public use. Bluewater harnesses patented, second-generation reverse osmosis technology to remove pollutants from water, including lead, bacteria, pesticides, medical residues, chlorine, microplastic particles and limescale.Bluewatergroup.com