In the title compound, [Ni(C(8)H(3)NO(6))(C(12)H(10)N(2))(H(2)O)](n), the Ni(II) atom is octa-hedrally coordinated by two cis N atoms from two different 1,2-bis-(4-pyrid-yl)ethyl-ene (bpe) ligands, two O atoms from one chelating carboxyl group of the 5-nitro-isophthalic acid (nip) ligand, one O atom from another monodentate nip ligand and one O atom from a water mol-ecule, forming a three-dimensional network structure. Inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding stabilizes this arrangement. The asymmetric unit of the structure contains one Ni(II) atom, one water mol-ecule, one nip ligand and two half-mol-ecules of the bpe ligand with an inversion centre at the mid-point of the central C=C bond.