To celebrate Manchester City’s Premier League title win, Xylem has teamed up with the football club and Heineken Manchester to produce ‘Raining Champions’, a limited edition beer made with purified rainwater collected from the roof of the Etihad Stadium.
‘Raining Champions’ is part of the Xylem and Manchester City campaign to show football fans around the world how every country faces serious and escalating water challenges, such as lack of access to clean water and flooding.
The ‘Raining Champions’ beer was brewed using rainwater that was purified with advanced treatment technologies from Xylem.
“With Manchester averaging about 150 rainy days per year, challenges like water scarcity may seem a world away but the reality is that these issues are closer than we think,” said Joseph Vesey, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Xylem. “A staggering 3.6 billion people – almost half the global population – currently live in areas that are water-scarce at least one month per year and, by 2050, projections estimate that more than 5 billion people could suffer water shortages. What better way to educate football fans about these urgent challenges and celebrate a phenomenal season for Manchester City than by toasting the club with a rainwater brew.”
Damian Willoughby, senior vice president of partnerships at City Football Group, parent of Manchester City, said: “Brewing a beer from rainwater collected from the heart of our football club is a fantastic and creative way to celebrate Manchester City winning another Premier League title. Together with Xylem, we hope this will inspire fans to do their bit and make a difference.”
Stephen Moore, brewery manager at Heineken Manchester, said: “We were really pleased to be able to help our Manchester neighbours out by brewing a beer in our on-site micro-brewery. This is the first time we’ve brewed a beer using purified rainwater – and now Manchester City fans can toast their team with a beer fit for the reigning champions!”
As part of Xylem’s multi-year partnership with Manchester City, the US company recently partnered with the football club to deliver clean water towers, WASH education, and sports and leadership training to communities in Bangalore, India. The ‘Cityzens Giving’ project ‘Water Goals,’ sponsored by Xylem, earned the top ranking among six projects in Manchester City’s annual Cityzens Giving global community initiative.
