The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(16)H(14)F(3)N(3)OS·H(2)O, contains two independent mol-ecules (A and B) and two water mol-ecules, one of which is disordered over two positions in a 0.790 (8):0.210 (8) ratio. The mol-ecular conformations are close, the benzimidazole mean plane and pyridine ring forming dihedral angles of 1.8 (3) and 0.1 (2)° in mol-ecules A and B, respectively. The water mol-ecules are involved in formation of two independent hydrogen-bonded chains via N-H⋯O and O-H⋯N hydrogen bonds. Chains propagating along the a axis are formed by mol-ecule A and one independent water mol-ecule, while chains propagating along the b axis are formed by mol-ecule B and the other independent water mol-ecule. The crystal packing exhibits π-π inter-actions, as indicated by short distances of 3.607 (3) and 3.701 (3) Å between the centroids of the imidazole and pyridine rings of neighbouring mol-ecules.