Water and wastewater infrastructure depends on continuous monitoring, telemetry and control signalling to ensure safe operation, regulatory compliance and service continuity. Assets such as pumping stations, treatment works and remote reservoirs are often distributed across wide geographic areas. Industrial 4G and 5G connectivity provides a resilient communications layer for water utilities, supporting telemetry, alarms and remote access where fixed-line infrastructure is unavailable, unreliable or costly to deploy.
Water and utility systems must be secured and managed correctly. Typical capabilities include:
Sensors, PLCs and controllers connect to a local gateway that aggregates telemetry and alarms. Data is forwarded via an industrial cellular router with external antennas. The router terminates secure VPN tunnels to central SCADA or utility management systems, ensuring reliable transport of telemetry and fault data. Management access is isolated on a separate secure plane.
Telemetry and alarms are prioritised for reliability and integrity. Monitoring platforms receive data over persistent TLS/IPsec tunnels, while maintenance access is logically separated using role-based controls and certificate-based authentication.
Water infrastructure prioritises data continuity and predictable recovery. Telemetry and alarms are buffered locally during outages and synchronised once connectivity returns. Session persistence, keepalives and automated failover rules reduce data loss and ensure timely restoration of communications.
Fixed-line connectivity is often unavailable or slow to provision at remote water sites and pumping stations. Cellular connectivity enables faster deployment, geographic flexibility and operator diversity without reliance on local infrastructure. Modern 4G and 5G networks provide sufficient reliability and latency for telemetry, alarms and remote monitoring when designed with resilience and buffering.
For related deployment guidance, see our smart metering & utilities, remote monitoring & telemetry, DeviceHub management and VPN and antenna optimisation pages.
If you operate systems that require stable, secure connectivity, we can help specify the correct industrial router, antenna setup and connectivity approach for your deployment.