Water infrastructure sustainability in Nigeria: a systematic review of challenges and sustainable solutions Oluwagbemi Samuel Adeoti , Jaya Kandasamy and Saravanamuthu Vigneswaran * Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, P.O. Box 123, Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia *Corresponding author. E-mail: saravanamuth.vigneswaran@uts.edu.au OSA, 0009-0004-5015-6940; SV, 0000-0002-8117-4322 ABSTRACT Using the PRISMA method, this systematic literature review synthesized findings from 15 studies to elucidate the key factors contributing to water infrastructure failure in Nigeria and propose evidence-based sustainable solutions. The study identified technical, financial, environmental, social, political, and institutional factors as predominant challenges in achieving water infra- structure sustainability. In response to these challenges, the researcher proposes a comprehensive ‘Sustainability Framework for Water Infrastructure’. This framework is designed to guide every stage of water infrastructure development, starting from pre-construction with an emphasis on inclusive project planning, followed by the construction phase where suitable techniques are utilized, and extending to the post-construction stage, focusing on efficient monitoring and management mechanisms. The study highlights the complexity of water infrastructure sustainability in Nigeria and underscores the urgent need for a structured and comprehensive approach to address this pressing issue. Key words: Nigeria, Sustainable Water Solutions, UN SDG 6.1, Water infrastructure, Water infrastructure failure, Water sustainability challenges HIGHLIGHTS • Analysis of causes of Nigeria’s water infrastructure failure. • Reviews existing research on Nigeria’s water sector and identifies sustainable solutions. • Novel Sustainability Framework for Water Infrastructure to guide future water infrastructure development. • Evidence-based recommendations for policy, practice, and future research. • Review of clean water access for UN SDG 6.1 in Nigeria. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). © 2023 The Authors Water Policy Vol 00 No 0, 1 doi: 10.2166/wp.2023.173 corrected Proof Downloaded from http://iwaponline.com/wp/article-pdf/doi/10.2166/wp.2023.173/1321209/wp2023173.pdf by guest on 15 November 2023