De Montfort University is a global academic hub chair and as such publishes a progress report on both the individual United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as a comprehensive report on all the goals.
Our 2025 report will show what the university has been doing in terms of research, teaching, partnerships and engagement in helping to meet those targets and raising awareness of the progress towards the 2030 aims.
This is the progress report for SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation. The full report on all the SDGs can be viewed here.
UN PROGRESS REPORT ON SDG 6 in 2025
SDG 6 is one of the poorer performing SDGs with 10% of the 2030 targets actually showing regression in the past 15 years and a further 40% showing stagnation.
No tracks are set to be met and just 10% showing moderate progress and a further 40% of targets just making marginal progress.
The UN progress report for 2025 states: “Billions remain underserved, and more than 2.2 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water, 3.4 billion went without safely managed sanitation and 1.7 billion lacked basic hygiene services at home.
“In schools, 646 million children remain without basic hygiene services, requiring a fourfold increase in progress to meet 2030 targets.
“Water systems are under strain from pollution, water stress and weak governance… achieving Goal 6 requires mobilising comprehensive financing.”
MAJOR DMU NEWS ON SDG 6 IN 2025
Flooding in the UK: How better collaboration between communities and authorities can strengthen flood resilience
A LACK of connection between local government and residents is a barrier towards community resilience to flooding, says new research co-authored by a leading climate social-science specialist at De Montfort University (DMU) Leicester.
The UK faces recurring flood events, with 5.2 million homes now at risk from flooding and coastal erosion. This increasing risk highlights the importance of resilience planning, according to the report published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction by DMU’s Dr Ruth McKie and Dr Adam Aitken from the University of Salford.
MAJOR DMU RESEARCH ON SDG 6 IN 2025
Not a Drop to Drink: Addressing Nigeria’s Deepening Freshwater Crisis
Irene, J., Irene, B. N., and Daniels, C. (2025)
NIGERIA is currently grappling with an acute freshwater crisis, characterized by a stark contradiction where abundant water resources coexist with a widespread lack of access to safe and reliable water.
This study examines the complex interplay of factors driving this crisis. It highlights how climate change and the degradation of critical infrastructure and water management systems have significantly reduced the resilience of freshwater systems.
This study draws on survey data to assess public perceptions of water scarcity and its causes, revealing a public consensus on the impacts and challenges of freshwater scarcity.
https://doi.org/10.3390/w17121731
Chitosan-Based Composites for Sustainable Textile Production: Applications Across the Lifecycle
Liu, A., Qi, B., and Ku, L. (2025)
THE fashion and textile industry (FTI) is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, resource consumption, and waste generation, necessitating sustainable alternatives.
Chitosan, a biodegradable and renewable biopolymer, has shown potential in reducing environmental impact throughout the textile lifecycle. However, existing studies often focus on isolated applications rather than its broader role in industrial sustainability.
This review synthesises findings from 142 academic studies to assess chitosan’s applications in textile production, dyeing, finishing, and waste management, emphasising its impact on energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and resource circularity.
https://doi.org/10.3390/cleantechnol7040095
The Impact of Announcing a Payment Assistance Program on UK Household Water Consumption: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis
Tyllianakis, E., Rigas, N., and Kounetas, K. (2025)
INFORMATION campaigns aimed at social norms are a mainstay tool for utilities. The announcement effect of such policies is usually ignored in favour of ex-post examinations of campaigns' outcomes.
This paper examines the effects of announcing a ‘help-to-pay’ program from a United Kingdom (UK) water utility company for households facing a uniform price for water.
This study uses data for around 6000 Yorkshire Water households between 2018 and 2020, adopting cross-sectional Regression Discontinuity (RD) and regression approaches.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2025.101981
Cutting-edge innovations in drinking water management
Diao, K. and Ulanicki, B. (2025)
EIGHT peer-reviewed papers reflecting the diversity of cutting-edge innovations in drinking water management in water distribution systems (WDSs).
Specifically, the contributions collected are organized into the following two main categories: (1) system status evaluation and (2) operational control and management with novel methods.
Four papers are included in each category.
https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2025.001
Rediscovering cities through strategically decentralised urban green infrastructure: a case study of stormwater resilience
Tiwary, A., Heidrich, O. (2025)
THIS paper demonstrates that strategic application of ‘decentralised urban green infrastructure’ (DUGI) can alleviate flash flooding through adequate surface run off reduction using a combination of linear and dispersed components based on the perviousness of the sub catchments.
As a first step, an assessment framework comprising of the following three steps is introduced: Site selection; DUGI implementation strategy; Impact analysis (hydrological, socio-economic, etc.).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s44327-025-00121-y
Context-aware data driven sensor data analysis: With application to H2S concentration prediction in urban drainage networks
Duque, H. et al. (2025)
THIS paper presents a context-aware data-driven approach for the analysis of big data from sensors.
Different from conventional methods, this approach incorporates exogenous variables or contextual information that influences the dynamic behaviour of the monitored system. In the context of water distribution systems, for example, key system variables including water demand variations and pressure are significantly affected by factors like time of day, the day of the week, unusual events, seasonal variations and weather conditions.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wroa.2025.100346
SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation