Appraising affordable and sustainable management of clean water to combat waterborne infectious diseases and advancing sustainable development goal 6

Purpose Studies have shown an inadequate clean water can cause infectious diseases. Thus, if not addressed, clean water scarcity in Nigeria, especially in urban and sub-urban areas, may enhance infectious diseases and threaten Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. The extant literature regarding mitigating the barriers facing sustainable management of clean water in Nigeria and its implications in advancing SDG 6 is scarce. This study aims to investigate the issues and proffer suggestions to improve Nigeria’s affordable and sustainable management of clean water and, by extension, combating infectious diseases and improving the achievement of SDG 6. Design/methodology/approach This study used qualitative research. The researchers also used a phenomenology method. This research used purposive and snowball sampling techniques to choose the participants, and 45 interviews were conducted. The researchers achieved saturation at the 40th participant across five Nigerian cities. The study used a thematic analysis for the data, and the results were presented. Findings The results identified 21 barriers facing Nigeria’s affordable and sustainable clean water management. This includes inadequate income, infrastructure deficiencies, water pollution, rapid population growth, lax policy, corruption, financial constraint, climate change and a water master plan. This study also suggested measures to improve the affordable and sustainable management of clean water and, by extension, combating infectious diseases and improving the achievement of SDG 6. Originality/value Besides contributing to positive social change via measures to improve the clean water supply, the proposed measures will stir relevant authorities to revamp “safe-water-for-all” and mitigate water-borne infectious diseases and, by extension, improve the economy and quality of life.