For the last two DP World ILT20 seasons, the Desert Vipers have used Bluewater Group’s reverse-osmosis, mains water supply connected units aside their team dugout and the players use professional quality water bottles, in a world-first for cricket.
The key upgrade to the water units in DP World ILT20 Season 4 is that the units have a large LED screen on the front, and water is dispensed at the sides.
So – is this a better solution than the current model used by most events and teams which is a “visicooler fridge” filled with disposable, PET (plastic) water bottles and soft drink bottles?
Here is an overview of the claimed benefits of the Desert Vipers’ new solution:
For Fans:
The Desert Vipers unit has full LED screen functionality. In future cricket administrators could do all sorts of things with the screen as control software could take a live feed. One easy to understand, example idea is: “images of at crease batters with live scores”. From a fan engagement perspective, the example that cricket could set around individual responsibility and sustainable behaviours to billions of fans is highly powerful.
For Players:
The unit delivers pure water free from PFAS (forever chemicals harmful to human health that are found in tap and bottled water globally) as well as microplastics. Bluewater Group can also mineralise the water for performance (high calcium / sodium / magnesium / electrolytes etc) and the solution suits how players actually hydrate – e.g. electrolyte mixes.
For Commercial Teams :
Major blue-chip brands already sponsor this type of infrastructure (e.g. Mastercard at The Open, Airbus at the Dubai Air Show), showing appetite from entirely new categories of sponsor. Full LED functionality makes for a wide range of creative commercial applications.
For the Planet / Nature:
The sustainability benefits of this solution are very tangible. The Desert Vipers save on using 15000 plastic water bottles each season in a world where the recycling rate for PET plastic is 9%. Plastic pollution destroys ecosystems and kills wildlife. Read more about this in the Desert Vipers’ Plastic Impact Report.
