Technology Helps Volvo Ocean Race Save Water and Cut Plastic in Cape Town

Volvo Ocean RaceThe innovative solution, provided in partnership with 11th Hour Racing and the Host City delivery partners, will generate 32,000 litres of drinking water dailyAround half a million single-use plastic bottles will be avoided during the Volvo Ocean Race’s Cape Town stopover thanks to an innovative new water purification solution which turns polluted and waste water into clean drinking water.The technology, from Bluewater, has been provided in partnership with the Race’s Founding Sustainability Partner, 11th Hour Racing, and with the support of the Cape Town City authorities, Host City delivery partner Worldsport and the V&A Waterfront.The Cape Town stopover is the 11th time that the Volvo Ocean Race has visited the South African city in the event’s 44-year history – but with the city’s water reserves currently low due to ongoing drought conditions, the 2017-18 stopover brought added challenges.https://youtu.be/eDsH-ujQYhwBluewater’s purified water solution means that the Race can generate up to 32,000 litres of clean drinking water for Race Village visitors daily throughout the Cape Town stopover, which runs until 10 December, without touching a single drop of municipal water.Volvo Ocean Race’s Sustainability Programme Manager Meegan Jones said: "These innovative water refill points in our Cape Town Race Village take our sustainable event management to new heights.“We have a commitment to drastically reduce single-use plastics at all our stopovers, and the Bluewater refill points means we won’t impact the City of Cape Town water reserves while still meeting our plastic reduction goals.She continued: “In addition, we are running a hugely-successful plastic bottle exchange in partnership with Consol Glass, which allows Volvo Ocean Race Village visitors to swap a single-use plastic bottle for a stylish refillable glass bottle.“It’s a world-leading example of sustainable event management that we are very proud of and thankful to Bluewater, 11th Hour Racing, Consol Glass, WorldSport and the V&A Waterfront for helping us to make this happen.”Read the full story here.Read more about sustainability at Volvo Ocean Race.