Exploring the promising role of internet of things in urban water systems: a comprehensive global analysis of insights, trends, and research priorities

The growing demand for sustainable management of urban water resources requires the incorporation of innovative technologies for improving efficiency along with resilience. Nevertheless, the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) in urban water systems is dispersed without any overall evaluations concerning its research horizon. This research systematically investigates the applications of IoT in urban water systems by conducting a bibliometric analysis, revealing significant trends, landmark contributions, and future research avenues. A systematic search yielded 388 Scopus-retrieved articles, which were analyzed using bibliometrics and VOSviewer software. The findings indicate the overwhelming domination of Indian research production (n = 120; 30.9%), followed by China (n = 33; 8.5%) and the United States (n = 28; 7.2%) research production. Developing countries show exemplary performance, proving that they recognize the potential of IoT in resolving the inherent challenges confronting the sustainability of their water systems. Most explored areas include water quality monitoring, leak detection, smart metering, and demand management, while challenges in the future lie in data security, privacy, and interoperability. Despite growing research interests, gaps remain in standardization, community engagement, and developing robust IoT architectures. This research highlights that, in the future, research must prioritize secure data handling, seamless integration, and governance patterns to capture the complete benefits of IoT. Moreover, advancing research in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for predictive analytics, increasing connectivity, and integrating IoT in smart city initiatives is required to optimize water resource management and ensure it is sustainable in the long run.