The title compound, C(20)H(14)N(4)OS·0.5CH(2)Cl(2)·H(2)O, contains 1,10-phenanthroline and benzoyl fragments that adopt cisoid and transoid conformations respectively, with respect to the S atom. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by inter-molecular O-H⋯O, O-H⋯N, N-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming chains along [011]. Weak C-H⋯π and slipped π-π stacking inter-actions [centroid-centroid distances = 3.715 (3), 3.684 (3) and 3.574 (2) Å] are also observed. In addition to an ordered water mol-ecule of solvation, there is a disordered dichloro-methane solvent mol-ecule which was difficult to model correctly. The contributions to the electron density for this mol-ecule was removed using the SQUEEZE procedure in PLATON [Spek (2009 ▶). Acta Cryst. D65, 148-155].