Bluewater and the Environmental Monitoring Group partner for a large-scale Cape Town river clean-up initiative

Cape Town, February 21, 2023 -- Bluewater, the global water purification and beverage company that has embedded ending the need for single-use plastics at the heart of its business mission, joined forces with Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG) for a large-scale weekend river clean-up effort at the Kuils River Catchment Area in Cape Town, South Africa.

EMG is a legacy grantee of 11th Hour Racing Team, the US offshore sailing team which is taking part in The Ocean Race. The team supports non-government organizations in each stopover it visits as part of its race around the planet, and Bluewater has been a long-term partner of the Newport, Rhode Island based outfit.

Bluewater unique mobile hydration stations dispensed pristine clean, great tasting drinking water to community members in multiple locations from Mfuleni to Khayelitsha, ending at Makhaza Wetland Park, where presentations took place. 11th Hour Racing Team, which harnesses Bluewater purification solutions at every Ocean Race stopover, is visiting Cape Town during The Ocean Race, the gruelling round-the-world sailing race that tests the endurance and skill of the world's top sailors.

Janneke Brasecke, Bluewater Africa General Manager, says: "At Bluewater, we believe human ingenuity can find solutions to our planet’s most challenging problems, such as providing people everywhere access to safe water. We believe sharing our vision with a professional sports team at the cutting edge of their sport such as 11th Hour Racing Team, is a huge privilege. We are both committed to finding solutions that contribute to ocean and human health. Local community participation and involvement in keeping our environment clean and healthy, is key to ensuring our planet’s health and future, so we were especially proud to be part of Saturday’s event and see people come together with the common purpose of improving life for all.”

The clean-up event was organized by Environmental Management Group, who focus on enhancing people’s relationships with the environment and with each other, working to end inequality and build social justice related to the use and management of natural resources.

Siya Myeza, from Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG), said: “The pollution along this river impacts many low-income communities living in environmentally harmful conditions that undermine their quality of life and livelihoods. The mass clean-up focused on specific parts of the river where community interaction with the river is the highest. We removed 500 bags of waste, an incredible achievement.”

11th Hour Racing Team and the Bluewater share a deep commitment to using their platforms to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment and promoting sustainable practices, and the partnership between the two organisations is geared to drive real change and make a positive impact on our planet.

Bluewater hydration stations leverage the company’s unique SuperiorOsmosisTM technology, which can deliver up to 7,000 litres of purified water on demand per day, removing chemicals, toxic metals, bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants such as microplastics.

The Bluewater Group has a strong presence in Cape Town, supplying their mobile hydration stations to large-scale sports and lifestyle events such as the Cape Town Marathon and the Cape Town Carnival, as well as on film sets and at other remote locations where clean drinking water is needed.

Damian Foxall, Sustainability Program Manager of 11th Hour Racing Team commented, “It has been an incredible opportunity to see first hand the work that EMG do in the community here. To have two of our partners - Bluewater and EMG - working together to provide safe drinking water for their communities is a legacy that we hope will have a lasting impact here in Cape Town.”

For more information, contact Dave Noble, Bluewater PR and Communications Director, at +44 7785 302 694 or david.noble@bluewatergroup.com

About Bluewater

Bluewater has set its sights on being the world’s most planet-friendly beverage company by innovating disruptive water purification technologies for home, work and play. Providing health-enhancing hydration solutions which are generated and distributed at point of use, combined with reusable stainless steel and glass bottles, allows Bluewater to break the stranglehold of single-use plastic bottles and their unnecessary, polluting transportation. Bluewater products are available to consumers, hotel and catering operations, and event and venue organizations in Europe, the USA, the UK, China, South-East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Bluewater has been honored with two Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards, a K&B Kitchen Innovation of the Year Award and recognized for its sustainability efforts by numerous other publications. In 2022, Bluewater acquired the U.S. Flowater water company, based in Denver, Colorado, which sells advanced water dispensers throughout North America that help a wide cross section of businesses efficiently avoid the use of single-use plastic bottles. www.bluewatergroup.com

About 11th Hour Racing Team

11th Hour Racing Team was formed in September 2019 and is led by American offshore sailors Charlie Enright and Mark Towill. Supported by title sponsor 11th Hour Racing, the Team’s mission is to build a high-performance ocean racing team with sustainability at the core of all operations, inspiring positive action among sailing and coastal communities, and global sports fans to create long-lasting change for ocean health. Towill and Enright have competed in the last two editions of The Ocean Race and the team is set to race in the inaugural, fully-crewed IMOCA Class of The Ocean Race 2022-23 with their next-generation race boat - Mālama. Learn more at 11thhourracingteam.org.

About Environmental Monitoring Group

EMG is a NPO working for environmental and social justice by advancing water rights, and amplifying agroecology, organising for a sustainable future within the global context of climate change. EMG works with civil society partners: communities, organisations and networks - specifically in provinces Western and Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. Part of this work is in the Kuils River Catchment Area, to improve the environmental health of the communities, rivers, wetlands, farming and green areas.

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