Gendered experiences of household water insecurity in the UK

- The research challenge is to define and measure the experience of HWI in the UK. The UK is a novel context for this type of study, and the manifestations of HWI may be different to those in more established research contexts. Intra-household social and gendered dynamics are central to this research. These power dynamics are recognised in water research based in the Global South, but data is on this limited in all global contexts.

- This research is important because HWI or associated conditions are generally not perceived to exist in the UK. Additionally, gender inequality in the home is not considered a political or social priority, even though research into domestic life during Covid-19 lockdowns showed that large disparities still exist and tend to increase during times of crisis.

- We do not know the extent to which water insecurity affects experiences of deprivation in low-income households. The impacts of racial and socioeconomic factors upon HWI have not been studied in the UK. Additionally, the relationship between water access and usage in the home and domestic gender inequality is largely unknown.

- The project will be carried out by reviewing the existing literature from a decolonial feminist perspective. This will enable an informed methodology for a UK case study that will investigate the water insecurity experiences of vulnerable households and the intra-household dynamics at play.

- The impact will be establishing tentative conditions for HWI in the UK, as well as revealing some of the experiences faced by low-income households regarding water access and use. Another desired impact will be the application of a decolonising methodology, by utilising a metric largely designed for the development sector in a high-income context. The hope is that this will raise awareness and contribute to discourse on how to go about decolonising international development.

Water-WISER will train a cohort of 50 British research engineers and scientists and equip them to work in challenging environments both in the low-income settings of rapidly growing poor cities and in the changing urban environment of the UK, Europe and other regions with a historic endowment of aging infrastructure. The vision is for a generation of engineers with the skills to deliver the trans-disciplinary innovations needed to ensure that future water, waste and sanitation infrastructure is resilient to the stresses posed by rapid urbanisation, global climate change and increasingly extreme natural and man-made disasters. Our alumni will address the urgent need to re-imagine urban spaces as net contributors to ecological and environmental well-being rather than being net users of vital resources such as energy, nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon. These new leaders will be an essential resource if the UK is to deliver on its commitment to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 6 which calls for universal access to safely managed water and sanitation services, within planetary and local ecological boundaries. This next generation of research engineers will enable UK-based engineering consultancies, manufacturers, and utility companies to grow their share of the expanding global market for water and waste services, for example; in the water services industry from 3% to 10% (an increase of £33 billion per annum) by 2030, and attract significant inward investment.
The research which Water-WISER cohorts enable will form the basis of new innovations in the design and delivery of resilient infrastructure and services. Innovations developed by Water-WISER graduates will inform how growing cities are designed and built in the global south and will be used to inform the re-engineering and replacement of the aging infrastructure on which the UK's water and waste services are currently reliant. Our alumni will form the new generation of leaders who will play a central role in securing a larger share of the international water and waste management consultancy market to UK consultancies. The network of expertise and skills created by Water-WISER will enhance potential for collaborations between major UK players (for example strengthening links between UK consultancy, the Department for International Development, and leading UK water agencies such as WaterAid and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor) and between UK companies and partners in the global south including international investors such as the World Bank, European Investment Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation. Graduates of Water-WISER will enter industry, academia and development agencies having spent a substantial period (minimum of six months) embedded in an industry or development partner organisation delivering their field-based research. Water-WISER students will thus gain a unique combination of trans-disciplinary training, field experience and cohort networking; they are destined for leadership roles in UK and international engineering and development consultancies, academia, international development banks, international agencies such as the United Nations and international non-governmental organisations.