WCW26

Everyone understands the importance of water and wastewater service master planning. Few understand the importance of undertaking a similar exercise for their SCADA system. After all, it’s just that black box in the corner, right? Why would you want to spend the time, effort and money putting together a master plan for something that costs so little? The answer to that question lies in the cost of failure, the risk to your business and the potential impacts to others including the public.
 
Your SCADA system is the single asset that provides you with the ability to remotely monitor and control all your water and wastewater assets. So why is the perceived value of SCADA systems so low? Why aren’t they given the attention that other assets are? Imagine if your SCADA system failed and it took a week to restore. Could you operate your facilities locally for that long? Would you be able to record regulatory data at the required frequency for that long? What would it cost? When you perform inventory and condition assessments of your assets, are the instruments, PLCs and network equipment overlooked? A SCADA master plan will not only shed light on the true value of your SCADA system, but begin to help plan for its continued improvement over time. 
 
Like anything else, SCADA master plans can come in all shapes and sizes. There is no pre-defined scope or scale for a SCADA master plan. It can be whatever you want it to be. Whatever fits the size and complexity of your organization. Or even whatever you have budget for right now. The key is not to treat your SCADA system with the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality. It’s worth more than that and should be treated with more attention and care.