Meet the leaders who are shaping the industry's future

Climate change, population growth, water scarcity and ageing infrastructure are no longer distant concerns. They are challenges that demand leadership, collaboration and a renewed commitment to environmental responsibility – something the sector will have a strong focus on at the World Plumbing Conference 2026, taking place at InstallerSHOW, NEC Birmingham from 23-25 June.

Among the speakers helping to shape this conversation at the conference are two experts who have sustainability, conservation and long-term impact at the centre of their professional practice. From different corners of the sector, Nicci Russell and Dr Preyan Arumugam bring perspectives grounded not just in theory, but in lived experience, research and real-world implementation.

While their careers have followed different paths, both speakers share a joint focus: ensuring that water and sanitation systems protect natural resources, support communities and remain resilient in the face of global change. Together, their contributions reflect a broader shift within the industry to recognise environmental stewardship as a core responsibility.

Water stewardship

With more than two decades of experience across government, regulatory bodies and the non-profit sector, Nicci Russell, CEO of Waterwise, has become one of the most widely recognised voices advocating for smarter water use in the UK. Her career began in politics and public policy before she moved into the environmental space and helped co-found Waterwise, now the UK’s leading authority on water efficiency.

Russell explains that her early career shaped the way she approaches environmental change – not as a standalone issue, but as something embedded across decision making at every level.

“My career started in politics and policy. I was working for Margaret Beckett as her special adviser, and in 2001, after that election, Tony Blair said to her, ‘We want to bring together agriculture and environment and form Defra’,” she says. “That was really where I first cut my teeth in the environmental sector, working with government officials, environmental organisations and businesses that affected the environment, including water.”

When she later left government, an idea discussed during that election period became the next stage of her career: establishing a dedicated water efficiency body. That idea became Waterwise. Today, Russell describes herself as an environmental campaigner at heart, someone focused on translating complex issues into practical action.

A central theme in her work is the link between water, resilience and fairness. In her view, water efficiency is too often misunderstood and framed negatively. “Water efficiency is often framed as something people lose: less water, fewer choices, tighter restrictions,” she explains. “But that’s the wrong way to look at it. At its heart, water efficiency is about security. It’s about making sure we can continue to meet demand in a way that protects the environment, supports economic activity and safeguards public health.”

At Waterwise, the work spans household behaviour, commercial practice and national strategy. However, Russell is clear that responsibility cannot sit with one group alone. Fragmentation, she argues, remains a major barrier. “We tend to talk about water in silos – domestic use here, industry there, regulation somewhere else, but water doesn’t behave like that,” she says. “It’s one interconnected system. Decisions made in buildings, homes and workplaces have a direct impact on rivers, aquifers and ecosystems.”

She also challenges the assumption that the UK is insulated from scarcity. “It is absolutely an issue here in the UK, and something we’re increasingly feeling the effects of,” she says. “Think of anything in our world, anything we do, and then try to imagine doing it without water.”

For Russell, the plumbing and heating sector is central to addressing this challenge. Speaking on a panel at WPC 2026 focused on cross-sector collaboration, she wants delegates to recognise their influence. “Plumbers, installers and specifiers are absolutely critical,” she says. “They’re the people who translate policy and design into reality. The choices made at installation stage – the systems selected, how they’re configured and maintained – can lock in water use patterns for decades.”

Water efficiency, she explains, is shaped by two factors that must work together: the products installed and the way people use them. Plumbers influence both, and Russell believes the sector often underestimates the trust it holds. “If a plumber came to my house and said, ‘I don’t think you want to go with that device,’ I’d trust them,” she says. “Equally, if they’re saying, ‘this will save you water and energy,’ that has real power.”

That trust also makes plumbers effective messengers for behaviour change. Advice given in the home, at the point of installation or repair, lands differently than broader public campaigns. Her aim at WPC 2026 is to balance urgency with optimism. “Scarcity is real, but so are the solutions,” she says. “Many of them are straightforward, low-cost and immediately achievable. This is a big issue – but everyone in the room is part of the solution. We can fix this.”

She highlights simple actions that can make a difference at scale: turning off taps while brushing teeth, using washing-up bowls, shortening showers and reducing bath volumes. None, she stresses, require sacrificing comfort. Alongside behavioural change, Russell acknowledges that more technical solutions, such as water reuse, will play an increasing role in future resilience.

Russell wants environmental responsibility to be part of professional identity. “The plumbing and heating sector has an enormous opportunity to lead,” she says. “Not just by meeting standards, but by raising them.”

Sustainable sanitation

While Russell’s work focuses on water efficiency within established infrastructure systems, Dr Preyan Arumugam, deputy director of the Water Sanitation & Hygiene Research & Development Centre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, brings a global perspective shaped by research, innovation and frontline delivery. With a PhD in chemical engineering and training as a biologist, her work bridges technical evaluation, public health and environmental sustainability.

Arumugam’s expertise lies in non-sewered sanitation, an area gaining momentum as countries confront water scarcity, infrastructure constraints and the need to expand access to safe sanitation. “We’ve been funded through the Gates Foundation as part of the global work around reinventing the toilet,” she explains. “The idea came from looking at different ways of doing sanitation, particularly where conventional sewered systems aren’t viable.”

At the centre of this work is the development of systems that treat waste on site, reducing reliance on traditional networks and, in some cases, removing the need for water entirely. “The aim is to develop a toilet that can clean your waste on site,” she says. “In the same way a washing machine cleans your laundry, we’re looking at an appliance-based toilet that treats waste sustainably, using far less water – or potentially no water at all.”

This work has moved beyond theory into practice. Arumugam describes extensive piloting and demonstration, with South Africa providing a valuable testbed. “We’re now very advanced in piloting and demonstrating these systems,” she says. “In South Africa, we’ve been doing this since around 2017 for community-scale systems.”

Much of this work has taken place in schools and community settings, where systems must be robust, safe and maintainable. However, Arumugam highlights a recurring issue: what happens once a pilot ends. “When it comes to maintenance, systems are often handed over to the owner,” she explains. “If ownership and maintenance aren’t properly thought through, that’s where problems emerge.”

In practice, local plumbers and tradespeople are often called in to maintain these systems, and unfamiliarity can lead to unintended consequences. “People tend to repair systems to the standard they know,” she says. “As a result, systems can be poorly maintained or even abandoned.”

This has reinforced Arumugam’s belief that technology alone is not enough. Sustainable sanitation requires coordination between researchers, manufacturers, policymakers and those working on the ground. “We need to bring in all the different role players,” she says. “That includes plumbers and artisans who work with these systems, day to day. They need to understand them and we need to learn from them, too.”

Standards and certification play a critical role in bridging innovation and implementation. “Alongside technical testing, I have a strong background in standards development,” Arumugam explains. “We’ve used learnings from pilots to help guide international standards, and that’s something I’ll be discussing at the conference.”

As systems move closer to household markets, those standards become even more important. She emphasises that no single solution will work everywhere. Different environments require different approaches, from biological systems to mechanical, thermal technologies. “What excites me most is the diversity of solutions emerging,” she says. “It creates the potential for a new sanitation economy that supports universal access without locking communities into water-intensive models.”

At WPC 2026, she hopes to connect research with the professionals who will determine whether these systems succeed at scale. “We’re still in the learning curve,” she says. “And that’s exactly why conversations like this are so important.”