Applied research · Peer-reviewed
Water poverty persists in many regions of the world, partly because water projects fail within a few years of being built. For more than nine years we have studied why, and what it takes to make water services last.
Extreme water poverty
Fetching drinking water from a stream. Ayetoro, Osun State, Nigeria.
Global drinking water access
The world has 8.2 billion people. Billions of them still live without safe drinking water. For billions more, reliable data does not even exist, so no one can say for certain. And even where water flows today, much of it comes from infrastructure that will fail within a few years. The water gap, the evidence gap, and most importantly the sustainability gap: all three are why we do this research.
Bars are proportional to the world population of 8.2 billion.
Extreme water poverty
688.8M
people without even basic drinking water access
Behind the global numbers is a harder truth: 688.8 million people live without even a basic drinking water service. This is extreme water poverty, and these are the communities our research and our projects exist to serve first.
Extreme water poverty
Fetching water from an unprotected well. Alagba Village, Ibadan, Oyo State.
These publications are the output of our applied research, and each study builds on the one before it. We publish to share our findings, so what we learn in the field can serve everyone working toward water services that last.
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 infrastructure sustainability. In response to these challenges, the researcher proposes a comprehensive 'Sustainability Framework for Water Infrastructure', designed to guide every stage of water infrastructure development: pre-construction planning, construction, and post-construction monitoring and management.
Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2023.173
In our model
This study provides the understanding of the 265 sustainability issues, across technical, financial, environmental, social, political and institutional factors, that our framework considers during diagnosis. It defined the problem the rest of the research set out to solve.
Abstract:
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6.1, universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, is a critical global challenge. This study examines rural water borehole functionality across 1,696 communities using GIS mapping, Spearman's rho correlation analysis and field interviews. It finds that 49.8% of communities lack improved water sources and only 25.5% benefit from functional boreholes, and proposes solution strategies built on community mapping and smart water infrastructure.
Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2024.127
In our model
This study took the research into the field. Across 1,696 communities it documented why and how water systems fail in practice, and created the baseline evidence that the predictive tools in the next studies are built on.
Abstract:
This study introduces the Predictive Iterative Sustainability Model (PISM), a tailored framework designed to enhance water infrastructure sustainability evaluations in Nigeria. Integrating Viability Rating, Sustainability Rating and predictive processes, the model draws on 70 Likert-scale questions covering 265 catalogued sustainability challenges. Applied to five Nigerian communities, it produced viability scores of 63.95–67.91% and sustainability ratios ranging from 179% to 424%.
Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2024.193
In our model
This study turned the field evidence into a planning tool. PISM rates a proposed water asset's viability and sustainability before construction begins, so risk is assessed before money is spent. If the evidence says a project will not last, we do not build it.
Abstract:
This study rigorously evaluates the effectiveness of smart water management systems in addressing prevalent water infrastructure failures, resilience, and sustainability challenges in Nigeria. Analysing 1,095 days of operational data from a smart water kiosk tracked with Target 6.1 software, it documents self-sustainability initially reaching 22%, dropping to zero under aid overlap (a novel challenge documented for the first time), and recovering to a 100% sustainability rating with a 97.1% reliability rating.
Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2025.291
In our model
This study tested the approach in a real community. Three years of live data confirmed the smart water solution's reliability, and revealed two constraints now built into our planning: overlapping aid can collapse a paid service, and underutilisation threatens sustainability even when infrastructure works. The next study set out to explain it.
Abstract:
Water infrastructure in resource-scarce settings often remains underutilized despite being technically sound and publicly funded. Combining household surveys (n=86), GIS analysis, IoT flow data and clinic records, this study introduces the Water Infrastructure Underutilization Principle. Even with free treated water available, only 16.3% of households adopted the smart infrastructure while 97.7% rated their existing sources "very good". Proximity-effect modelling showed each additional minute of walking reduced the odds of adoption by 48%.
Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2025.088
In our model
This study answered the question the field data raised: why technically sound infrastructure goes unused. Its Water Infrastructure Underutilisation Principle now shapes how we assess behaviour, perception and walking distance before a site is chosen.
In brief:
Achieving SDG 6.1, universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, is a critical global challenge, with more than 336 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lacking adequate water services. This article shares our research and field results with the global water community, and makes the case for smart, demand-aware water systems as a practical route to SDG 6.1.
Read the article: thesourcemagazine.org
In our model
This article tells the story of the research cycle in practice: pilot projects that serve communities every day while operating as research platforms, and how that cycle can serve the wider push for SDG 6.1.
Across the world, too many water points fail within a few years of being built. Ending that is what this research is for. We publish so our methods are tested by independent experts and shared with everyone working toward safe water, and every project we deliver feeds what it learns back into the framework.
01
Diagnose
& design
Community mapping, six-factor diagnosis, predictive modelling (PISM)
02
Implement
& learn
Live delivery with 16+ metrics tracked daily on the Target 6.1 Map
03
Strengthen
& scale
Findings published, frameworks shared, the model revised
Every project we deliver is a working test of the model, reporting live data on its own public page. See the research in practice:
Field documentation · A failed water point, Ijero LGA, Ekiti State.
FairAction is an industry partner of the University of Technology Sydney. UTS is ranked #11 in the world in water resources and #18 in civil engineering, and #1 in Australia and New Zealand in both, by Best Global Universities 2026–27.
Director, Centre for Technologies in Water and Wastewater; Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney.
Specialist in computational hydraulics, renowned for his expertise and educational courses in HEC-RAS, both in Australia and internationally.
Transdisciplinary researcher dedicated to achieving clean water for all through innovative research and development, bridging academic and industry practices.
Environmental engineering expert focused on enhancing the resilience and sustainability of water infrastructure systems.
Put the research to work
Every framework on this page is in use in the field today. If you fund water work, deliver it, or study it, this is where the research becomes action.
For foundations, institutions and major donors: support evidence-led water services and the research and development that keeps strengthening them.
Fund a complete smart water project, built with the frameworks published here and tracked live on its own public page for its whole working life.
Join us as a pro bono researcher, become a PhD researcher through our industry doctorate partnership with UTS, or fund a research project with FairAction.
Water services that last are built on evidence. Building that evidence, and acting on it together, is a fair action.
