Amount awarded: £270,000
Led by: South Staffordshire Water
Partners: Waterwise, Severn Trent Water, South West Water, Affinity Water, Southern Water, Northumbrian Water, Get Water Fit, Hindu Climate Action, Eco Dharma Network, Cambridge University – Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge Central Mosque
Project completed: April 2025
The Challenge
The UK is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world with two cities in the Midlands recently labelled as “super diverse” in the 2021 Census. The UK water sector faces a significant challenge of making sure there is enough water available in the future, in which reducing water consumption through effective engagement and behaviour change plays a critical role in addressing more than a third of the water supply and demand shortfall predicted by 2050.
The current water efficiency support measures offered by water companies in the UK (and wider) does not recognise or fully understand how faith and diverse communities may value and use water in different ways. For many religions and beliefs water plays a leading role in daily rituals and practices, and different cultures relate to water in a variety of ways. Therefore, water companies need to consider their approach when engaging diverse communities to make sure the water efficiency support and wider services provided are more inclusive than they are currently.
The Project Overview
The ‘Water Efficiency in Faith and Diverse Communities’ (WEFDC) project aims to enhance understanding in how water is used and valued in different faiths and cultures through in-depth research of water use practices linked to faith and culture. The key objective from the research was to better understand how we can effectively engage and support these communities to reduce their water consumption in practical and sensitive ways. The research follows with designing and delivering bespoke water-saving campaigns in underserved communities to meaningfully drive positive behaviour change, and test new water saving devices linked to faith or culture. The goal was to develop a framework that embeds all the lessons learnt into a practical ‘toolkit’ guide for water companies and the wider sector to embrace, adapt and explore further in similar communities across the UK. To subsequently improve water efficiency engagement and support for faith and diverse communities to help them truly save water and build public trust.
The project brought together a diverse range of partners from leading academics, research experts, behaviour change specialists and faith groups that have been working in the environmental space for decades. This included partnering with
Cambridge Central Mosque, the first and largest award winning eco mosque in the UK, the University of Cambridge (Faculty of Divinity) leading the academic research through to our delivery partners Weir The Agency and Waterwise delivering two distinct behaviour change campaigns with invaluable support from all our partners and supporters.
Research Insights
Central to the approach undertaken throughout the project was listening, reflecting and learning from a wide range of stakeholders including water consumers (and bill paying customers) representing different faiths and cultures. Our research programme was designed so that each study built on the previous one, to reduce the potential for duplication of insights and focused on addressing gaps in knowledge as they emerged.
The University of Cambridge researched how religious communities in Cambridge (focusing mainly on Jewish and Muslim communities for practical reasons) used and valued water, and new possibilities for water conservation and sustainability practices inspired by faith. Grayce further researched into religious water use practices within mainstream religions observed in the UK covering Christianity and Catholicism, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Following the University of Cambridge study, and Grayce’s research, there were two main research studies undertaken. These were independently facilitated by Blue Marble delivering Cambridge Water’s Young Innovators’ Panel (YIP) and Explain Research delivering WEFDC qualitative research programme.
Research – headline findings:
Delivering campaigns
Over spring and summer 2024 two bespoke water saving behaviour change campaigns were delivered in areas deemed to have the largest water saving opportunity linked to faith and culture – the first campaign related to faith (in the Muslim community in Cambridge) and the second campaign related to culture (cooking practices in Southeast Asian communities across the West Midlands).
The first campaign focused on saving water during ablution (also known as “wudu”) a washing ritual performed as part of the Muslim faith every day (up to five times a day) before prayers. Muslims would typically use six to 12 litres of water per wudu session if using water under a full flowing running tap. Whereas the Islamic tradition as practiced by the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who Muslims strive to follow only used 1 “Mudd” (equivalent to almost one litre) of water to perform wudu – that’s around 10 times less than the upper end of what a Muslim may typically use, thus giving a potential saving of up to 55 litres a day per person if adopted. As part of the campaign, we also tested for the first time an exclusive ablution wudu bottle – an innovative water saving device to assist Muslims in saving water when performing wudu. In total we had 172 uptakes and received positive feedback after using the wudu device.
The second campaign involved creating a series of videos to encourage ways to save water when washing rice and ways to reuse starchy water for watering plants and/or beauty purposes such as for hair/skin spritz. Rice is a staple food in many Southeast Asian cultures and washing rice five to nine times or until water runs clear is a common cultural practice. For those who washed rice using on average seven litres there was an opportunity to save five litres by using less water to wash rice. Selecting the appropriate “messenger” was key for both campaigns – with the wudu campaign the message was co-created and delivered in partnership with Cambridge Central Mosque, a trusted voice in the community. For the rice washing campaign the message was delivered through our celebrity MasterChef winning South Asian chef, Ping Coombes who can relate to the practice of washing rice. We also created videos with gardening and beauty experts Emma O’Neil and Sonia Haria creating content appealing to gardening, cooking and beauty enthusiasts.
Potential water saved – limited assessment:
It was very challenging to quantify the amount of water saved in both campaigns given the nature of the campaigns being largely through social media and other online platforms over the six-month period. There were also several external factors influencing water usage such as garden or outdoor use and overall limited data of households directly impacted. The potential impact for each campaign is summarised below:
EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) was at the heart of this project when designing interventions in collaboration with a range of partners and stakeholders including local community influencers supporting our “word of mouth” marketing strategy. We measured the effectiveness of EDI by ensuring as many voices were heard and considered throughout the project by adjusting were necessary such as, the language used to the design of the research programme. The two water saving campaigns developed reusable materials and assets and had elements of engaging existing community structures and faith-based value systems to encourage positive behaviour change. We have made these available to use by other water companies or faith organisations to replicate and adapt where appropriate for their respective communities.
Toolkit
A key output from the WEFDC project was the development of a practical toolkit designed to assist water companies and water practitioners, in developing a robust, water-saving behavioural change campaigns within faith and diverse communities. It does not impose strict rules but is intended to support and inspire thinking and can be adaptable.
The toolkit is structured into a detailed six-step process, serving as a model for developing one’s own “WEFDC project” and/or behavioural change campaign(s). It has been designed to use as a guide where some sections maybe more relevant and can be adapted as needed. Each step has supporting tools and templates which can be clicked on and used as a guide. Throughout the six-step framework, there are references to real examples of how certain considerations or processes were implemented in the WEFDC project. The toolkit also includes a glossary at the start which incorporates the respectful language used with the campaigns. Lastly, this toolkit has been designed with accessibility in mind, ensuring that everyone can easily engage with the content. It utilises a clear, straightforward writing style, with concise language and organised formatting to support ease of understanding and navigation.
Conclusion
Throughout the project we have learnt so much exploring this somewhat complex and sensitive area of the connection of “faith and culture” with water use practices. We gained invaluable insight through research and testing engagement strategies through choosing effective “messengers”, partnerships and careful choice of languages enabled us to engage communities effectively and help build trusting relationships. This enabled us to build social capital to support the delivery of future programmes and initiatives. South Staffordshire Water’s substantial roll out of universal metering over the coming years will embed and build the learning into the engagement programme and work with local communities to support a seamless journey and transition to metering.
There is certainly more innovation to be explored in creating new water saving devices, particularly when it comes to cooking practices that uses large amounts of water. This can start from growing water thirsty vegetables in the garden to preparing and excessive washing of food items such as raw vegetables, chicken, meat and fish which is practiced in many cultures. There also needs to be further testing of any new water saving devices such as the wudu device to increase confidence in the amount of water that can be potentially saved. Water companies need to consider such devices as part of the suite of water efficiency measures offered.
With growing multicultural towns and cities across the UK, it is essential water companies start to adopt and embrace new ways to engage faith communities to meet the evolving needs of customers, wider society and the environment. The project has aimed to address a gap in the sector to consider more inclusive services to support under-served communities and enable water companies and the wider supply chain to truly reflect the communities they serve.
The project has developed a framework and practical toolkit guide for water companies and other organisations to use when engaging with faith and diverse communities around water efficiency. The toolkit has been designed so that it can be adapted and scaled to deliver similar behaviour change campaigns but can also be used as a guide for developing other initiatives within similar communities across the UK.
This report provides the key learnings, findings and recommendations from the WEFDC project open for the water sector to embrace, adapt and scale up where applicable in their respective communities to positively impact and benefit wider society and the environment.
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Resources:
For more information on Water efficiency in faith and diverse communities, take a look at the following resources:
If you have any questions, email the project directly at [email protected].
