Water did not change anyone's condition, and it was not the means by which to find God's kingdom. That power resided in spiritual baptism. In one Spirit the saints were baptized into one body, Paul taught (1 Cor 12:13). Water did not do that. Jesus also taught baptism in the Holy Spirit, as we see in Acts 1:5.
Jesus said that unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (Jn 3:5). In this quip, water, the Greek hudor, is used of the expression and symbol of the believer's identification with Christ, not the medium for or cause of such identification; water baptism is figurative. It is birth in flesh, as context in the verses following John 3:5 make clear, as Jesus elaborated of birth both in the Spirit and in the flesh. He talks of life in flesh and spirit, not in water and spirit.
Context around 1 Peter 3:21 implies the same. Jesus was executed in the flesh but resurrected in spirit (v 18). In verse 20, Peter alludes to Noah, who was never actually submerged in the water. The ark saved Noah, not water. The passing of water over the body does not cleanse anyone (v 21). Baptism is an appeal to God.