Evian introduces first ever refillable on-court water system to Wimbledon

Wimbledon’s official water supplier evian has announced it is implementing its first ever on-court refillable water system for players.

Now in its 15th year of partnership, this is the first time the two brands are piloting an on-court water refill scheme.

The evian refill water system will be used by players during practice week and throughout The Championships, which will be staged from 3 to 16 July.

Players will be provided with their own reusable bottles that can be refilled with evian natural mineral water both on-court and at designated player areas, including practice courts and dressing rooms.

At Wimbledon’s premier courts, Centre Court and Court No.1, prefilled reusable bottles will be available to supplement the ones supplied to and brought onto court by players.

Courts two to 18 will see an on-court dispenser positioned beneath the umpire chair during matches for players to refill their bottles themselves, alongside ball boys and girls, who will also be on hand to help refill on behalf of those competing.

Sarah Dossett, vice president, marketing at Danone UK & Ireland, said: “We are incredibly proud of our long-standing relationship with one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events. Together through collaboration, we are excited to pilot this new system for 2023. The development of a refill solution to deliver our evian water to players demonstrates evian’s continued commitment to innovate. Together with Wimbledon, we are continuing our journey towards our circularity ambitions.”

The All England Club’s chief executive Sally Bolton said the two brands have been been working together “to evolve and move towards delivering evian water in the most sustainable way”. She added: “We are excited about this next step in our journey together and look forward to seeing how the pilot goes and the impact it could have going forward.”

Jen Emerton, head of account management at WRAP, a UK organisation which works with businesses to advise and assist on their circularity ambitions, said showcasing a refill model at a world class sporting event “is a great way to make refill the default option, and an active part of our everyday habits”.

Evian’s parent company Danone is a UK Plastics Pact member, a WRAP initiative which seeks to change the way businesses use and recycle plastic.

While announcing the new scheme, Wimbledon and evian also stated the Alpine water brand will continue as Wimbledon’s official water supplier for a further five years until at least 2027.