Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation

Our research

Research by our Water and Environmental Engineering research group is focused on finding effective solutions for people in low- and middle-income countries who lack access to clean, safe water. Working with partners in South Asia and Africa, researchers from the University are focused on the areas of climate change and resilience, poverty and infrastructure, and public health. In 2023, a University researcher received a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship to support work looking at ways to improve intermittent water supplies in low-resource countries.

Another part of this work is the SCARE project. Funded by the Gates Foundation, this four-year programme is focused on Sanitation and Climate: Assessing Resilience and Emissions (SCARE). In 2022, researchers from Bristol worked as part of a team with local stakeholders, governments, policy makers and other universities, conducting field work in Nepal, Ethiopia, Uganda and Senegal to develop tools and methods to help make sanitation services more resilient in the face of climate change.

Our students

Bristol is one of a small number of UK universities that offer a dedicated course at Masters level focused on sustainability and water management. Our MSc Water and Environmental Management course provides students with the training and skills they need to work in this field, combining elements of engineering, science and management within a context of sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Students on some other courses within the fields of Engineering and Geography also have the opportunity to study units at undergraduate and postgraduate level on Water Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, Water Resources Management in a Changing World, and Water Governance and Management.

Be the Change is a broad sustainability behaviour change campaign that aims to educate and engage staff and students in six lifestyle areas: food, fashion, travel, electricals, water & energy, and action. Water was the focus in November 2022 and May 2023, with events including an Every Drip, Every Drop webinar in collaboration with Bristol Water, and tips and challenges to help staff and students reduce water use.

Our communities

Our Professional Liaison Network develops authentic learning opportunities for students with external partners. Through this mechanism, a Masters student in Society, Politics and Climate Change co-developed a project to assess the efficacy of Kenya’s Water Security Plans with local water charity Frank Water, sustainable development advisors Arup, and NGO Amref Health Africa. Using Frank Water’s Toolkit – a practical guide for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) – the project investigated how the use of the Toolkit in Kenya had improved water management, collection and training, demonstrated the impact on communities, and provided recommendations for improved future applications in East Africa and globally.

In 2022, the SCARE team from the University’s Resilient Water and Sanitation Services research group shared their research, including their framework for assessing water and sanitation service resilience in relation to climate change, via the Papers to Practice podcast. The podcast series aims to help communicate research to practitioners and professionals in the sanitation field and is co-hosted by non-profit water group CAWST, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), and the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA).

Ourselves

Bristol is the founding city and headquarters of Refill, which launched in 2015 to connect people with locations where they can eat, drink and shop with less waste. We support Refill Bristol by providing access to mains drinking water points all over the campus. Staff, students and visitors can refill water bottles or cups at 19 points, as part of the overall 400 stations across the city.

The University’s Carbon and Water Strategy sets out our ambitions and actions to reduce water use, with targets to measure water consumption, cap water consumption at 2016/17 levels, and implement conversation and efficiency measures across campus, starting with the most high-consuming buildings. As of 2022/23, water consumption returned to pre-2020 levels after a period of disruption during the pandemic, but is down 35% on our 2007/8 baseline, and we continue to work towards maximising the efficiency and effectiveness of water use and management across the University.