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Drinking water, watched from source to tap.

A drinking water utility must deliver safe water every hour and lose as little of it as possible on the way. Quality sensors from source to network, pressure and flow by district, acoustic leak listening and treatment plant data give operators an early view of contamination, bursts and losses, on an observation network kept apart from plant control and secured end to end.

Industry

Water

Measurements

5

Sources cited

5

1. Water · Drinking water treatment and networks

   Safe water, every hour, with less lost

   A drinking water utility runs treatment plants, reservoirs and a buried network that must deliver safe water every hour. Contamination can enter anywhere from source to tap, and leaks quietly lose treated water. Observation gives operators early warning of both, without touching the control systems that run the plant.

2. What is measured

   Quality, pressure, flow and sound

   Quality sensors measure turbidity, disinfectant residual, pH and conductivity from intake to network; flow and pressure sensors measure each district; acoustic loggers listen for leaks at night; level sensors watch reservoirs. Laboratory compliance samples remain the measurements of record. Each reading carries its point.

   Instruments

   Quality sensors · Flow · Pressure · Leak loggers · Reservoir levels

3. The base node

   Event detection at the edge

   Industrial gateways read quality and flow sensors over Modbus. The edge node signs every value, runs event detection that compares readings across the network, flags burst patterns and passes data out through a security gateway that lets nothing back in.

4. Radio and links

   City radio and utility fibre

   Leak loggers and chamber sensors report from batteries over LoRaWAN; district stations use cellular; plants and major sites use utility fibre; utilities with private networks use them for stations and crews. Every connection sits in a defined security zone. Each zone’s conduits are reviewed.

   Links

   LoRaWAN · Public cellular · Fibre · Private LTE

5. How it works

   From a sensor to a response

   A falling disinfectant residual is read by the gateway, checked by the edge’s event rules against nearby points, signed and passed through the security gateway to the historian. The alert reaches the quality team with its data and the actions the water safety plan sets out.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope from the water safety plan

   The scope reads the water safety plan, the district structure, the loss programme and the security architecture. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns a monitoring design per district and plant, the network separation plan, the integration with control systems and a price per district.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Survey districts and plants

   Crews visit district inlets, chambers, hydrants, reservoirs and plants with network and operations staff. They check access, power, coverage, existing instruments and security zones, and record each point against the utility’s asset records. Chambers that flood or cannot be entered safely are noted, and alternative points are chosen before the design is fixed.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Street works and security review

   Work in the street follows the highway authority’s permits and traffic management. Every device placement is reviewed against the utility’s security zones, and changes to plant systems follow management of change. Nothing is connected to plant networks until operations and security have signed off the design.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build devices for chambers and plants

   Quality and pressure stations, leak loggers, gateways and edge nodes are built, hardened and tested, each enrolled with its identity and asset number so readings arrive tied to the right place in the network. Every device ships with its security configuration already applied and documented.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Install district by district

    Installation proceeds district by district: inlet stations, quality points, leak loggers on hydrants and valves, reservoir levels and plant gateways. Each device is checked and photographed, and the asset record updated. Customers in affected streets are told about works in advance, and supply is not interrupted to install network sensors.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Commission against samples

    Each device proves its identity, then quality sensors are compared with laboratory samples, pressure with gauges and flow with meters. Event detection rules run in observation before they alert, and alarms are tested end to end. Results are signed into each device’s record.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Early warning of quality and loss

    Operators see quality across the network, pressure and flow by district and leak alerts with their locations. A quality event arrives with its data and the actions the water safety plan sets out, and every response is logged. Leak alerts reach repair crews as work orders.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Clean, calibrate and close losses

    Quality sensors are cleaned and calibrated on schedule, leak loggers are moved to new districts as losses fall and software moves in rings. The loss record shows what was found, fixed and saved. Security updates follow the utility’s programme and are tested before they reach the fleet.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For quality, network and regulators

    Water quality teams and health authorities receive quality series and alerts; network managers see pressure, flow and losses by district; repair crews receive leak locations; regulators receive compliance records. All come from the same signed readings. Each carries its calibration record and quality flags.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Evidence from source to tap

    Calibrations, laboratory comparisons, every alert, every response and every change are signed and kept. Monitoring supports the water safety plan and the drinking water rules that apply, loss work follows recognised water audit methods, and security follows the industrial security series.

    Drawn against

    WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality · Directive (EU) 2020/2184 · AWWA M36 · ISA/IEC 62443

16. What you get

    Environmental and permit monitoring

    Emissions, water quality, noise and dust monitoring for permit conditions, with traceable calibration and evidence bundles. Delivered as managed service and data licence, for industrial operators, municipalities, regulators. Scale: Site to portfolio. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan drinking water treatment and networks with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for drinking water treatment and networks. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextDrinking water utilities abstract from rivers, reservoirs or aquifers, treat the water and distribute it through networks of mains, pumps and storage divided into metered districts. Water safety plans manage risk from catchment to tap, and drinking water rules set quality parameters and monitoring. Leaks waste a large share of treated water in many networks, and control systems are critical infrastructure.

Hazards

• Contamination at the source, in treatment or in the network
• Bursts and leaks, visible and hidden
• Low pressure and supply interruptions
• Treatment failures, such as disinfection or turbidity excursions
• Cyber intrusion into plant and network control

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A network station: quality and pressure sensors read through an industrial gateway, and a node that signs every value.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A district: inlet flow and pressure, quality points, leak loggers and reservoir levels, joined to the utility’s edge.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   Every district, reservoir and plant run as one fleet, with one water quality and loss record.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Utilities, health authorities and regulators read federated records, each with the access the rules give them.

   The open protocol →

• 01Flow meter
• 02Water quality sonde
• 03Acoustic sensor
• 04OT gateway (OPC UA, Modbus)
• 05Edge node (Wedge)
• 06Zero-trust gateway
• 07Fibre terminal
• 08Battery case
• 09Shelter

Radio and links

LoRaWAN

Leak loggers and small sensors in chambers report from batteries, often through city LoRaWAN networks.

Radio and links

Public cellular

District stations and reservoirs without utility fibre report over cellular.

Radio and links

Fibre

Treatment plants and major sites join the utility’s network over fibre.

Radio and links

Private LTE

Utilities with private networks carry station data and crew traffic on spectrum they control.

Edge computeAn edge node compares quality across the network with event detection rules, flags flow and pressure patterns that suggest bursts and passes data out through a security gateway.

PowerChamber and hydrant devices run on batteries; district stations and reservoirs use site power with battery backup.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Scope from the water safety plan

   The scope reads the water safety plan, the district structure, the loss programme and the security architecture. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns a monitoring design per district and plant, the network separation plan, the integration with control systems and a price per district. 1

2. 02 Survey

   Survey districts and plants

   Crews visit district inlets, chambers, hydrants, reservoirs and plants with network and operations staff. They check access, power, coverage, existing instruments and security zones, and record each point against the utility’s asset records. Chambers that flood or cannot be entered safely are noted, and alternative points are chosen before the design is fixed.

3. 03 Permits

   Street works and security review

   Work in the street follows the highway authority’s permits and traffic management. Every device placement is reviewed against the utility’s security zones, and changes to plant systems follow management of change. Nothing is connected to plant networks until operations and security have signed off the design. 5

4. 04 Build

   Build devices for chambers and plants

   Quality and pressure stations, leak loggers, gateways and edge nodes are built, hardened and tested, each enrolled with its identity and asset number so readings arrive tied to the right place in the network. Every device ships with its security configuration already applied and documented.

5. 05 Install

   Install district by district

   Installation proceeds district by district: inlet stations, quality points, leak loggers on hydrants and valves, reservoir levels and plant gateways. Each device is checked and photographed, and the asset record updated. Customers in affected streets are told about works in advance, and supply is not interrupted to install network sensors.

6. 06 Commission

   Commission against samples

   Each device proves its identity, then quality sensors are compared with laboratory samples, pressure with gauges and flow with meters. Event detection rules run in observation before they alert, and alarms are tested end to end. Results are signed into each device’s record.

7. 07 Operate

   Early warning of quality and loss

   Operators see quality across the network, pressure and flow by district and leak alerts with their locations. A quality event arrives with its data and the actions the water safety plan sets out, and every response is logged. Leak alerts reach repair crews as work orders.

8. 08 Maintain

   Clean, calibrate and close losses

   Quality sensors are cleaned and calibrated on schedule, leak loggers are moved to new districts as losses fall and software moves in rings. The loss record shows what was found, fixed and saved. Security updates follow the utility’s programme and are tested before they reach the fleet.

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Network water quality with event alertsWater quality teams and health authorities
• District pressure, flow and lossesNetwork managers
• Leak locations for repairLeak detection and repair crews
• Compliance recordsRegulators

Integration

• Control system and historianData reaches the historian over OPC UA through a security gateway.
• Laboratory systemCompliance samples are joined to sensor series.
• Work management and GISLeak alerts open work orders tied to the asset and map.

Exchanged through OPC UA (IEC 62541), OGC SensorThings API, ISA/IEC 62443.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Do sensors replace compliance sampling?

No. Compliance follows the regulatory sampling; sensors add continuous early warning between samples.

Does this connect to our control system?

Only through a security gateway that lets data out, under the utility’s security programme.

How are leaks found?

Acoustic loggers listen at night, flow and pressure patterns narrow down the area, and crews confirm before digging.

Can we start with one district?

Yes. One district is a complete site; others repeat it.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, and water safety plansWorld Health Organization
2. 2Directive (EU) 2020/2184 on the quality of water intended for human consumptionEuropean Union · 2020
3. 340 CFR Part 141: National Primary Drinking Water RegulationsUS Environmental Protection Agency (eCFR)
4. 4AWWA Manual M36: Water Audits and Loss Control ProgramsAmerican Water Works Association
5. 5ISA/IEC 62443 series: security for industrial automation and control systemsISA and IEC

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Water: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

Bring us the site.

Plan a deployment, configure a station, model it in the Studio or talk to sales. The form names who receives your details.