Belu explores how hotels can turn an everyday essential into a force for good, using water to drive positive change for people, communities and the planet.
For Belu, water has always been about more than what is in the bottle. Since we were founded in 2002, our ambition has been simple: to use business as a force for good, creating positive change for people and the planet through the choices we make every day.
Our purpose, ‘to change the way the world sees water’ guides everything we do. From the products we create and the packaging we use, to the way we work with our collective and communities, we are constantly looking for ways to make a positive difference. Our work is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on Goal 6, clean water and sanitation, Goal 12, responsible consumption and production, and Goal 13, climate action.
One of the most important milestones on our journey came in 2011, when we began our partnership with WaterAid, the world’s largest international water charity. From the beginning, we committed to investing 100% of our net profits with WaterAid. It means they can support communities facing the greatest challenges and respond quickly when circumstances change. In May 2024, for example, WaterAid used unrestricted funding to provide clean drinking water to communities affected by Cyclone Remal and flooding in Patuakhali district, Bangladesh.
Fifteen years on, our partnership has become something we are incredibly proud of. Together with our Belu collective, we have given £6.5 million to WaterAid, which could help more than 435,000 people gain access to clean water. Behind every one of those numbers is a person, a family and a community with the potential to build a healthier and more hopeful future.
One of those people is Margaret, a mother of four from Ntchisi District in Malawi. Margaret has delivered all of her children at Chinguluwe Health Centre, a facility serving almost 26,000 people and seeing more than 250 patients each day.
Previously, the health centre faced severe water shortages. Staff, patients and the surrounding community relied on a single borehole with an inconsistent water supply. This made practicing everyday good hygiene and infection prevention extremely difficult, particularly for women giving birth.
Working with the community and local partners, WaterAid helped install a solar-powered water supply system, providing a consistent source of clean water across the health centre, including in the delivery rooms.
For Margaret, the difference is significant for her, and for her children:
Imagine how it would feel to have to carry water on your head when you are very heavily pregnant and you’re tired […] But now…, there is a tap in the delivery room. So, nobody had to draw me water from anywhere.
If I’m here with my child and my child is sick, I know that I can go to the tap and give my child a drink. So, it’s not that much of a worry. If I were to bring my children to the hospital now, I don’t worry about access to water.
It is stories like Margaret’s that remind us why our partnership with WaterAid matters. They show what is possible when purpose is built into the way a business operates, and when businesses, customers and communities work together, something bigger can be achieved
For the hospitality industry, water is at the heart of everyday life. It is served to guests, used in kitchens, restaurants, bedrooms, laundry and across hotel operations. This gives hotels an exciting opportunity to rethink how they value water and the difference their choices can make.
Looking ahead to the next 15 years, that opportunity is only becoming even more important. As climate change is intensifying pressure on water resources, millions of people around the world still lack access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
Our purpose is to change the way the world sees water. By 2030, we will continue to invest 100% of our net profits with WaterAid, while investing in nature-based solutions and taking action across our own environmental impact. But we cannot do this alone.
Every hotel that chooses Belu becomes part of something bigger. By serving Belu, you can offer your guests great water while helping communities around the world access something we believe everyone should have: clean water.
Fifteen years has shown us the power of serving with purpose. Now, we are looking forward to the next chapter and inviting more hotels to join us.