Our Background & Story
"we knew things could be better"
We, at Newport Water, knew the traditional ways of accessing and consuming drinking water were expensive, flawed and wasteful. For more than a decade, we’d been building relationships, serving clients and driving change in the drinking in the drinking water industry. Then we saw that real, impactful change was needed beyond the corporate environments we were serving.
The impact on schools could not be ignored...
Nowhere is water more important than in schools. It enables focus, learning and concentration and plays a part in keeping thousands of students (the future of our islands) happy, healthy and hydrated.
We have seen and learnt from the continuous struggles of P.T.As and other caring bodies to bring and maintain drinking water in schools. We saw repeatedly, the breakdowns of what were relatively new drinking fountains, afforded by generous donors and/or dedicated fundraising. These fountains became destroyed through the sheer extent of use and lack of on-going maintenance.
We knew these fountains were designed for a 20–50-person work environment and NOT for schools with 800-1000 plus energetic and not-so-gentle students. We saw that few students cared for (or could afford) the cost of purchasing bottled water daily.
We saw the students who ending up drinking water, did so from the derelict and dirty water fountains or from the school’s garden and bathroom taps. There were so many who skipped water altogether, opting for their preferred soda which was so readily available at the vending machine. We also heard the concern and saw the dedicated actions of parents, principals, teachers for the well-being of students, the habits they were building and what they were consuming daily.
A public outcry for better...
Outside of the school environment, campaigns against Childhood obesity came to the fore, we observed the general population pursuing healthier lifestyles and international and local concerns around single use plastic bottles and impact they were having on our oceans and landfills. Finally, we saw a demand for better services and amenities.
We saw a solution...
Through years of research and development we created and refined a solution which checked the boxes.
We launched the Hydrate programme in February 2020 in Barbados – yup, just before Covid pandemic. This program was built from the ground up in pursuit of our mission and is underpinned by a relentless commitment to Newport Water’s pillars of well-being, innovation, and the environment.
It was designed as a solution to challenges in our communities – the challenge of providing healthy alternatives and as a solution to the single-use plastic problem. It simply empowers individuals, communities and corporations in effecting real sustainable change.
Communities serving Communities
Our solution needed refining, we needed to get more people involved so that more can benefit from this precious resource. More schools and more communities needed stations, more than our corporate sponsors could afford.
We needed the same water stations – funded differently.
With Hydrate Caribbean, we are seeking to make it easier for more people to contribute to a single station, through a crowd-funding approach; reducing the burden on one corporate sponsor and making it easier for sponsorship to be acquired.
Like us, we hope you see each station as a gift to the community by the community, with love.
Shawn Gibbons
Managing Director - Newport Water