It is estimated that around 9 million (pre-1970s) UK homes still have lead pipes, despite lead being banned for use in water pipes in 1969. There is no safe level of lead; it accumulates in the body over time and poses significant health risks, particularly for the development of children and unborn babies.
Water companies carry out programmes of lead replacement including customer side pipe replacement. The challenge of replacing lead pipes is made harder by responsibility for replacement being split between home-owners and water companies, and low public awareness of the risks associated with this ‘hidden danger’. Despite the scale and challenge of this environmental health issue, there have been surprisingly few studies exploring how to effectively promote customer adoption of lead pipe replacements (e.g. Klemick et al., 2024). This PhD aims to address this significant societal challenge by exploring the drivers of and barriers to lead pipe replacement by consumers. The outcome of the PhD will be the development of practical, evidence-based tools aimed at increasing uptake of replacement across customer groups.
Applying insights from risk research and behavioural science, the PhD will take a mixed methods approach (including using experimental methods). It has three objectives:
- To identify barriers and drivers to uptake of lead pipe replacement amongst diverse property owners (owner occupiers, private landlords, housing associations, commercial owners etc.).
- To test behaviour change interventions (e.g., different messages, timing) to drive adoption of lead pipe replacement.
- To explore upstream opportunities to embed lead pipe investigation into property conveyancing.
The studentship is funded by UKWIR, the leading independent research organisation for the UK and Irish water sector. The student will work closely with Wessex Water and other water companies to ensure the research has real-world impact in tackling this major environmental health risk.
