Control systems for infrastructure
that can't go down.
Water treatment plants and distribution networks serve communities around the clock. An equipment failure doesn't result in a delayed shipment — it results in a boil water advisory, a permit violation, or an environmental discharge that triggers regulatory action. The control systems running this infrastructure need to be reliable, maintainable, and designed by engineers who understand that uptime isn't a KPI — it's a public health requirement.
We design and deploy control systems for municipal water treatment, wastewater treatment, pumping stations, distribution networks, and collection systems as a water and wastewater SCADA system integrator. PLC programming, telemetry, and system integration engineered for EPA compliance, NPDES permit requirements, and the specific demands of water and wastewater operations.
End-of-life PLCs, unsupported SCADA, and communication architectures designed for a different era.
- —Spare parts scarce, software unsupported
- —Paper log sheets for permit reporting
- —SCADA networks never designed for connectivity risk
Centralized visibility, cellular telemetry, automated regulatory reporting, and AWWA-aligned security.
- Unified view across plant and remote sites
- Automated historian logging for permit reports
- Segmented OT networks with secure remote access
The problem with water
and wastewater controls.
Water utilities face a convergence of pressures that makes the status quo unsustainable. Aging infrastructure — treatment plants and pump stations built decades ago with control systems that are now obsolete, unsupported, and increasingly difficult to maintain. A retiring workforce that takes institutional knowledge with it. Tightening regulatory requirements around water quality, nutrient limits, and cybersecurity. And capital budgets that never quite stretch far enough.
Many facilities are still running on PLCs and SCADA platforms that were installed in the 1990s or early 2000s. The hardware is end-of-life, spare parts are scarce, and the software runs on operating systems that haven't received security patches in years. Operators work around limitations rather than report them because they've been working around them for so long it feels normal.
Meanwhile, regulators expect more data, more reporting, and more demonstrated control over treatment processes than ever before. And the cybersecurity landscape has changed dramatically — water systems are now recognized as critical infrastructure targets, and SCADA systems that were designed for isolated networks are increasingly connected in ways that introduce risk.
We build control systems that address all of it — modern platforms that are reliable and maintainable, SCADA architectures that support both operational needs and regulatory requirements, and network designs that balance connectivity with security.
Eight capabilities,
built for 24/7 service.
Structured PLC logic on Allen-Bradley and Siemens platforms for water and wastewater treatment processes. Influent screening and grit removal, primary and secondary clarification, activated sludge process control, UV disinfection, chlorination and dechlorination, chemical dosing, membrane filtration, and biosolids handling. Pump station sequencing with lead/lag rotation, level-based control, and VFD optimization for energy efficiency. Distribution system pressure management and booster station control.
View serviceReal projects,
measurable results.
A SCADA system for the next 20 years.
A municipality's water system was running on a 20-year-old SCADA platform across one treatment plant and 15 remote sites. The server hardware was failing, the software was no longer supported, and the communication architecture used licensed radio frequencies that were becoming unreliable. We designed and deployed a new SCADA architecture on Ignition with cellular telemetry, migrating all remote sites and the treatment plant to the new platform in phases over 6 months. Each phase was tested, commissioned, and turned over to operators before the next began. The new system provides plant-wide and system-wide visibility from a modern web-based interface, with historian trending, automated reporting, and secure remote access for on-call operators.
Pump station control that saves energy.
A wastewater utility was running constant-speed pumps at 12 lift stations — pumps cycled on and off based on wet well level, with no speed control and no optimization. Energy costs were high, and the constant cycling was shortening pump and motor life. We retrofitted all 12 stations with VFDs, updated the PLC logic for level-based speed control, and integrated the stations into the utility's SCADA system for centralized monitoring. Energy consumption at the lift stations dropped by 30%, and pump maintenance intervals extended significantly due to reduced cycling and softer starts.
Compliance data without the clipboard.
A water treatment plant was recording chlorine residual, turbidity, and pH readings on paper log sheets — operators walked to instruments every two hours, wrote down readings, and the data was manually entered into a spreadsheet for monthly regulatory reporting. Readings were occasionally missed during busy shifts, and the manual transcription introduced errors. We integrated all water quality instruments into the SCADA system, configured automatic data logging at the required intervals, and built automated regulatory report generation that pulls directly from the historian. Operators still verify instruments on their rounds, but the compliance data is captured automatically, continuously, and without transcription errors.
The stack we deploy
in water utilities.
Allen-Bradley ControlLogix & CompactLogix, Siemens S7-1500 & S7-1200
Ignition, VTScada, FactoryTalk, AVEVA, GE iFIX
Cellular (LTE/5G), licensed and unlicensed radio, satellite, DNP3, Modbus
EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, Modbus TCP, managed switches, IT/OT firewalls
Allen-Bradley PowerFlex, Siemens Sinamics, ABB ACS — for pump and blower VFD control
Hach, Endress+Hauser, Rosemount, YSI — turbidity, pH, DO, chlorine, flow, level
Ignition Tag Historian, OSIsoft PI, AVEVA Historian
Built for public infrastructure,
not adapted to it.
We design for 24/7 infrastructure.
Water systems don't have a maintenance window. We design control architectures with redundancy, failover, and graceful degradation so that a single component failure doesn't take a treatment process offline. And we plan migrations and upgrades around the operational reality of facilities that serve communities every hour of every day.
We understand the regulatory landscape.
Water treatment is a permitted activity. Permit limits, monitoring requirements, and reporting obligations shape how control systems need to collect, store, and present data. We design SCADA systems with regulatory reporting in mind from the start — not as an afterthought that requires manual workarounds.
We stay local.
Water and wastewater systems need ongoing support — not a phone number for a help desk in another time zone. We provide commissioning, training, and ongoing support from engineers who know your system because they designed and built it.
Straight answers.
Yes. We deploy PLC programming, SCADA, telemetry, and cybersecurity architectures for municipal water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations, lift stations, storage facilities, and collection and distribution networks. Our designs are aligned with EPA, NPDES, AWWA, and CISA water sector guidance.
Yes. We execute phased migrations — Allen-Bradley PLC-5 and SLC-500 to ControlLogix, legacy Wonderware and iFIX to modern platforms like Ignition and VTScada — in facilities that serve communities 24/7. Each phase is tested, commissioned, and turned over to operators before the next begins.
Cellular (LTE/5G), licensed and unlicensed radio, and satellite. Protocol support for DNP3, Modbus, and industrial Ethernet. We design the communication architecture for reliability in the environments where hardwired connections aren't feasible — pump stations, lift stations, storage tanks, pressure-reducing valves, and remote wells.
OT network segmentation with firewalls and DMZs, secure remote access, vulnerability assessments, and SCADA hardening — aligned with AWWA cybersecurity guidance and CISA recommendations for water sector critical infrastructure. We design architectures that balance operational needs with the reality that water systems are now recognized targets.
Yes. Chlorine residual, turbidity, pH, DO, and other permit parameters are logged automatically from the historian and surfaced in the formats your regulatory reporting requires — not captured on paper log sheets and manually transcribed into spreadsheets.
Hach, Endress+Hauser, Rosemount, YSI, and similar platforms for turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, chlorine residual, ORP, conductivity, ammonia, nitrate, and phosphorus. Mag meters, ultrasonic, and Parshall flume flow measurement. Level measurement for tanks, wet wells, and basins — with loop calibration and SCADA integration.
Ready to talk about your system?
Whether it's a SCADA upgrade, a pump station retrofit, or a full treatment plant controls project — tell us about it and we'll figure out the best way to help.