Future Outlooks for Water Quality Management: Integrating Sustainability, Resilience, and Social Equity

Water quality management is a growing global priority due to increasing pressures from climate change, population growth, urbanisation, industrialisation, agricultural intensification, and emerging contaminants. These challenges threaten freshwater ecosystems, public health, economic development, and progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). This critical review employed a PRISMA-guided systematic literature review to evaluate future directions in water quality management from sustainability, resilience, and social equity perspectives. A total of 11,485 records were identified, with 3632 duplicates removed. Following the screening of 7853 records and assessment of 1441 full-text articles, 117 studies met the inclusion criteria for qualitative synthesis. Geographical analysis showed that 88 studies (75.2%) adopted a global perspective encompassing both developed and developing countries, while 24 studies (20.5%) focused on developing countries and 5 studies (4.3%) on developed countries. The review identified notable progress in water quality monitoring, wastewater treatment, pollution control, and integrated water resources management. Emerging technologies such as smart monitoring systems, artificial intelligence, advanced treatment processes, and resource recovery approaches were consistently highlighted as promising tools for improving water quality and enhancing adaptive capacity. Despite these advances, significant barriers remain, including fragmented governance systems, climate-related risks, emerging contaminants, and persistent inequalities in access to safe water resources. The findings underscore the importance of integrating sustainability, resilience, and social equity within water governance frameworks. Achieving long-term water security will require coordinated and transformative approaches that strengthen links between science, policy, and practice while promoting inclusive, resilient, and sustainable water management.