Water Monitoring & Control Companies
Online instrumentation, SCADA, and control solution providers delivering real-time visibility into treatment performance.
25 specialist providers · 62 related · 16 countries
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Specialists in water monitoring & control
Providers whose services or self-declared specialties match this category.
Xiamen Haichuan Runze Internet of Things Technology Co.,Ltd.
VerifiedChina · 51-200 employees
We are from Xiamen Haichuan Runze that is a provider of water conservancy information technology products and integrated technical solutions. Currently, the company's products such as water level gauges, flow meters, rain gauges, sensors, and telemetry terminal units can be widely applied in various fields including smart water conservancy, smart cities, smart irrigation areas, and smart environmental protection.
Buyer's guide
The buyer's guide to water monitoring & control
Water Treatment Monitoring and Control Systems: SCADA Architecture, Sensor Integration, and Cybersecurity
Monitoring and control systems in water and wastewater treatment use SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) architecture: field instrumentation (sensors, analysers, flow meters, level sensors) connected via hardwired 4-20 mA or digital fieldbus (HART, Foundation Fieldbus, PROFIBUS) to PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) or RTUs (Remote Terminal Units), which communicate over an industrial Ethernet network to SCADA servers from the major automation vendors hosting the HMI (Human Machine Interface). Modern water utilities integrate OT (Operational Technology) SCADA with IT systems for data historians, asset management, and business intelligence platforms.
Key online water quality monitoring instruments: turbidimeters (nephelometric, ISO 7027, range 0.01 to 1,000 NTU, accuracy plus or minus 2 percent); UV254 analysers (proxy for dissolved organic carbon and disinfection by-product precursors, accuracy plus or minus 3 percent at 0.01 to 1 cm-1 range); free and total chlorine analysers (amperometric or colourimetric, range 0 to 2 mg per L residual, accuracy plus or minus 5 percent); pH and ORP (oxidation-reduction potential, ISE sensors, 0 to 14 pH, accuracy plus or minus 0.02 pH units); conductivity and TDS (toroidal or contacting, range 0 to 100 mS per cm); dissolved oxygen (luminescent lifetime-based sensors, 0 to 20 mg per L, drift-free for 6 to 12 months).
Cybersecurity is a critical and evolving requirement for water treatment SCADA. High-profile incidents (Oldsmar Florida water plant attack 2021: attacker temporarily raised NaOH dose 100-fold via remote access; Stuxnet-related concerns for critical infrastructure) have elevated cybersecurity from optional to mandatory. NIST Cybersecurity Framework and ICS-CERT guidance, UK NCSC CAF (Cyber Assessment Framework) for critical national infrastructure, and IEC 62443 series for industrial control system security are the applicable standards.
Minimum requirements: network segmentation (air gap or unidirectional gateway between OT and IT networks), multi-factor authentication for remote access, regular firmware patching, and cyber incident response plan. US EPA and AWWA require utilities to complete cybersecurity Risk and Resilience Assessments (AWIA 2018 requirement for utilities serving above 3,300 people).
Frequently asked questions
What parameters are monitored continuously at a water treatment plant?
Continuous online monitoring parameters at a modern drinking water treatment plant: (1) Raw water quality: turbidity (NTU), UV254 (dissolved organics), pH, conductivity (TDS), temperature, flow; (2) Treatment process: coagulant dose, coagulated water turbidity, flocculated water turbidity, settled water turbidity; filter inlet turbidity, filtered water turbidity (target below 0.1 NTU per ENgineered Safety Feature), filter headloss (indicating media clogging); (3) Disinfection: UV dose (intensity plus flow) or chlorine dosing rate, free chlorine at entry to distribution; (4) Distribution: pressure at key points (pumping stations, zone boundaries), free chlorine residual at network points (target above 0.2 mg per L EU DWD 2020, 0.2 to 1.0 mg per L operational target), turbidity at sentinel taps in the network. Alarm thresholds for each parameter trigger operator response per site operational procedures.
What is SCADA in water treatment?
SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is the integrated software and hardware system that monitors and controls water treatment and distribution operations. Key functions: (1) Data acquisition - receives real-time sensor readings (4-20 mA signals, digital fieldbus, radio telemetry) from field instruments and transmits to centralised database; (2) Supervisory control - operators adjust setpoints (dose rates, pump speeds, valve positions) through touchscreen HMI displays; PLCs execute the actual control commands locally without requiring operator intervention for routine adjustments; (3) Alarming - compares all parameters to high/low/rate-of-change limits, alerts operators by screen alarm, SMS, and email for any exceedance; (4) Data historian - stores all readings with timestamp, typically at 1 to 60 second intervals, enabling trend analysis, event investigation, and regulatory reporting. SCADA systems cost $200,000 to $5M to install depending on system complexity and number of remote sites.
How is remote monitoring set up for water assets?
Remote monitoring of distributed assets (pumping stations, reservoirs, remote boreholes, pressure reducing valve chambers) uses: (1) RTU (Remote Terminal Unit) or micro-PLC installed at the site, connected to local sensors (pressure, level, flow, chlorine); (2) Communication link to SCADA: GSM/4G cellular (most common for new installations, SIM cards at $5 to $15 per month per site, data rate 1 to 10 kB per 15-minute cycle sufficient for standard sensor data); radio telemetry (licensed VHF/UHF or ISM band, for remote areas without cellular coverage); or LoRaWAN (low power, long range, low data rate, battery-powered nodes, suitable for pressure loggers and simple monitors); (3) Cloud SCADA platform (from an industrial IoT or remote-monitoring vendor) aggregates data from all remote sites; (4) Alarm routing to operator mobile device (SMS, app notification). New installations use 4G with satellite backup for critical sites; older utilities are migrating from legacy radio to cellular for improved reliability and cost.
What are the cybersecurity risks for water utility control systems?
Water utility SCADA faces threats from: (1) Remote access exploitation - attackers using compromised VPN credentials or exposed RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) to access SCADA from internet; Oldsmar attack (2021) exploited shared remote desktop software credentials; (2) Ransomware - malware encrypting operational data and SCADA software, demanding payment; UK water companies have experienced ransomware incidents requiring days of manual operation; (3) Supply chain attacks - compromised software updates from vendors introducing malware; (4) Insider threats - disgruntled employees with privileged SCADA access. Mitigation: implement network segmentation with firewall between corporate IT and OT networks; enable multi-factor authentication on all remote access points; maintain offline backups of SCADA configuration and historian data; conduct annual penetration testing; implement patch management for all OT components; and participate in CISA (US) or NCSC (UK) information-sharing programmes for threat intelligence.
Illustrative scenario · UK regional water company, operational technology upgrade
A composite drawn from typical projects in this category, not a single client engagement. Figures are indicative.
- Challenge
- A water company operating 14 remote pumping stations and 3 service reservoirs across a rural region used legacy radio telemetry (1980s vintage) with no redundancy, no MFA, and a shared SCADA password. An NCSC CAF assessment rated the OT network as Critical Risk. The company needed a full SCADA modernisation while maintaining uninterrupted supply.
- Approach
- The programme deployed new RTUs at each remote site communicating via 4G with satellite backup, a segmented OT network behind a Purdue model architecture with unidirectional data diodes between OT and IT, and MFA on all remote access. The SCADA historian was migrated to a dedicated OT server with offline backup. Staff received IEC 62443 awareness training and a cyber incident response plan was rehearsed before go-live.
- Outcome
- NCSC re-assessment rated the network as Managed Risk within 11 months. Telemetry availability improved from 82 to 99.4 percent. Two simulated intrusion exercises post-go-live were contained within the OT segment with no impact on operations.
Questions to ask shortlisted providers
5
- 01
Which IEC 62443 security level does the proposed system target and how is it validated?
IEC 62443 SL-2 is the minimum baseline for water critical national infrastructure; vendors must demonstrate not just design intent but tested conformance.
- 02
How is the OT network segmented from the corporate IT network and what unidirectional gateways are used?
Network segmentation is the primary control preventing ransomware lateral movement from IT into SCADA; the architecture must be documented and auditable.
- 03
What is the remote access policy and how is MFA enforced for SCADA access?
Compromised remote access credentials are the most common attack vector; single-factor VPN access is no longer acceptable for water CNI.
- 04
What is the patch management cycle for PLCs, RTUs, and SCADA servers?
OT firmware vulnerabilities have multi-year exploit windows; a documented patch management procedure with tested rollback is essential.
- 05
How quickly can SCADA configuration and historian data be restored from offline backup after a ransomware event?
Recovery time objective (RTO) for SCADA restoration determines whether manual operation is feasible during a cyber incident.
What drives cost in this category
4
- Number of remote sites requiring RTU replacement
- RTU hardware, installation, and 4G/satellite connectivity costs 15,000 to 45,000 GBP per remote site; large networks of 20 or more sites dominate the programme budget.
- SCADA software licensing and server infrastructure
- Enterprise SCADA platforms carry licence costs of 50,000 to 500,000 GBP plus annual maintenance of 15 to 20 percent of licence value.
- OT network security architecture (firewalls, data diodes, SOC integration)
- Cybersecurity uplift to IEC 62443 SL-2 typically adds 20 to 35 percent to the base SCADA project cost; ongoing SOC monitoring adds 80,000 to 250,000 GBP per year.
- Integration with existing sensors and instruments
- Legacy 4 to 20 mA instruments may require HART adapters or replacement with digital fieldbus devices to integrate with modern SCADA; instrument retrofit costs can rival RTU hardware costs on ageing sites.
Key regulations and standards
4
- UK NIS Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/506)
- Network and Information Systems Regulations designate water and wastewater as Operators of Essential Services; requires incident reporting to NCSC within 72 hours and CAF self-assessment.
- NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF)
- The CAF provides the regulatory framework for UK CNI cybersecurity assessment; water companies are assessed against 14 outcomes across 4 objectives; Managed Risk is the minimum acceptable rating.
- IEC 62443 Series
- International standard for industrial control system cybersecurity; IEC 62443-3-3 defines system security requirements for Security Levels 1 to 4; SL-2 is the target for most water utility SCADA deployments.
- Ofwat AMP8 Resilience Expectations
- Ofwat's 2025 to 2030 price review requires water companies to demonstrate digital and cyber resilience as part of their totex business plans; cyber investment is a legitimate totex driver.