Water Utilities

SCADA and OT Cybersecurity for Water Utilities

Water and wastewater networks run on SCADA: pump stations, reservoirs and treatment plants watched over radio and cellular telemetry. I help Australian water utilities and councils keep those systems reliable, up to date and secure.

The Sector

Why Water Is Different

A water utility can have hundreds of remote sites, a small engineering team, telemetry that has been in service for decades, and processes such as chemical dosing where a wrong setpoint is a public health issue rather than an IT outage. Budgets are tight, and the same few people often design, maintain and secure the whole system.

Larger utilities also carry SOCI Act obligations. Broadly, a critical water asset is one used by a water utility that services at least 100,000 water or sewerage connections, and that brings in the asset register, cyber incident reporting and a critical infrastructure risk management program. Smaller utilities and councils aren't covered by those rules, but they face the same threats.

Services

How I Help Water Utilities

SCADA and telemetry

Design, health checks and optimisation of SCADA and telemetry systems, including Geo SCADA (ClearSCADA), which is common across Australian water utilities, particularly in Queensland.

Upgrades and telemetry renewal

SCADA migrations and upgrades planned around operations, and RTU and communications renewal after the 3G closures.

OT risk assessments

Risk assessments of treatment plants, pump stations and telemetry networks, rated on your own risk matrix.

SOCI Act compliance

Bringing SCADA and telemetry properly into the CIRMP for critical water assets.

Network monitoring with IIoT

IIoT sensors for levels, pressure, flow and sewer overflows, integrated with SCADA.

Data and reporting

Getting operational data to the people who need it, from regulatory reporting to cloud analytics.

Training and mentoring

Practical support for small teams that look after the whole system.

Priorities

Security Priorities for Water OT

Where to start when resources are limited:

  • Control remote access: no always-on vendor connections, multi-factor authentication, and every session brokered and logged
  • Separate treatment plant and telemetry networks from the corporate network, with a DMZ for anything that has to cross
  • Put safety limits on chemical dosing in the PLC or in hardwired interlocks, so SCADA can't command an unsafe setpoint
  • Keep current, tested backups of PLC, RTU and SCADA configurations, with a copy stored offline
  • Know what is on the network: an accurate inventory of sites, devices and communications paths
  • Remove default and shared passwords, starting with any device reachable from the internet
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my water utility covered by the SOCI Act?

Broadly, if your utility services at least 100,000 water or sewerage connections, its assets are likely to be critical water assets under the SOCI Act. Check the definitions with your legal advisers or the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre, as other factors can apply.

What SCADA systems do Australian water utilities use?

A mix. Geo SCADA (formerly ClearSCADA) is common, particularly in Queensland, alongside AVEVA Plant SCADA (formerly Citect), Ignition and others, often with a separate PLC-based control system at treatment plants.

Do you work with councils and small water utilities?

Yes. Engagements range from a single health check or ad-hoc support to longer programs, so the work can be sized to a small team and budget.

Can you help with telemetry after the 3G shutdown?

Yes: auditing which sites lost, or are at risk of losing, communications, choosing replacement communications, and planning the RTU and modem changes together with the SCADA updates.

Related

Related Services