How can we save water while continuing to honour diverse cultural traditions?

Washing rice five to nine times, or until water runs clear, is a common cultural practice across many south-east Asian communities.

Rooted in tradition, washing the rice isn’t just about hygiene, but also about enhancing the flavour and texture of the food.

But in the UK, where the water system is stretched and climate change threatens more dry summers, there’s a real need to reduce use.

Reusing starchy rice water to hydrate plants, or as a skin or hair spritz, is just one of the recommendations the water sector is giving to communities. Water savings are estimated at up to five litres per rice wash!

Why does this matter?

In the face of climate change, we will all have to manage our water use.

Drier summers will mean shortfalls in water supply could reach over five billion litres per day, making drought more widespread, as the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has warned.

Many of the solutions to this issue will come from work led by the infrastructure sector. More reservoirs storing water for when we need it and water recycling technology will support supply in periods of high demand.

But on the other side of the coin, we all have important roles to play in ensuring that we also use less.

We need everyone to get involved

A whole-of-society response will require everyone getting involved. That requires listening.

Funded by the water industry’s economic regulator, OfWat, two campaigns in Cambridge and the West Midlands have recognised the value of engaging the full diversity of communities across the UK.

The campaigns, Reviving the Sunnah – Performing Wudu the Prophetic Way and Saving water in South Asian Communities, centred around religious rituals and cooking practices to address water use in a well-targeted way. The campaigns aimed to:

• Understand how different faiths and cultures use and value water, helping water companies work with these communities to reduce their usage in practical and sensitive ways.
• Turn the project’s findings into a practical toolkit that water companies and the wider sector can use, adapt and explore when working with similar communities across the UK.
• Build trust with these communities while supporting them to reduce their water use.

The project brought together a diverse range of partners, including leading academics, research experts, behaviour change specialists and faith groups to co-create the programme.

Reviving the Sunnah – Performing Wudu the Prophetic Way

Alongside the rice-washing campaign, the water companies also focused on saving water during personal washing rituals (also known as “wudu”). These are performed as part of the Muslim faith every day – up to five times a day – before prayers.

Six to 12 litres of water are typically used per wudu session if a tap is running at full flow.

An ablution wudu bottle – an innovative water-saving device – was taken up by 172 people.

Feedback on the device was positive, and between 1,400 to 5,900 litres of water were saved per day per household.

Selecting the right ‘messenger’ was key to getting the message across sensitively and effectively. Trusted voices supported the campaigns, including South Asian and Muslim celebrities as well as leaders from the local mosque.

The wider opportunity: working with communities to save water

Water efficiency begins with listening to the communities using water.

But in a country as diverse as the United Kingdom, it has taken too long to recognise that people do not all use water the same way.

Faith, culture, tradition, and community norms shape daily habits, from how we cook to how we pray. Yet for decades, water efficiency campaigns have been designed as if every household were identical.

The result? Limited impact, low trust, and a widening gap between water supply challenges and the behaviour change required to address them.

The ICE’s latest paper Built for purpose? Understanding people’s experiences of infrastructure assets and services highlights how far we have to go on a national scale.

New YouGov polling commissioned by the ICE highlights that 78% of Brits don’t feel that people like them are listened to when infrastructure is planned, funded and delivered in the UK.

The paper is clear that we need to engage with communities where they are.

And that means recognising the strength in the diversity of the UK – because any water saved will benefit us all when the impacts of drought begin to bite.

Read the ICE's paper