Gilbert launches $723,205 water and wastewater SCADA master plan

Gilbert launches $723,205 water and wastewater SCADA master planGilbert Town Council has approved a 21-month Brown and Caldwell contract to produce the town’s first SCADA and communications master plan. The work will cover control-system standardisation, operational-technology cybersecurity and fiber connectivity across water and wastewater assets.

Council approved the $723,205 Brown and Caldwell consulting contract as part of a 7-0 consent-calendar vote on September 15.

The plan will retain separate water and wastewater SCADA systems, but seek common software, licensing, HMI standards, cybersecurity posture and operating practices.

Gilbert plans to transition water remote sites from radio and wastewater remote sites from primarily cellular communications to town-owned fiber, retaining the existing technologies as backup.

The consultant will assess three treatment plants, 29 water remote sites, 17 wastewater collection sites and 15 wastewater reuse sites.

The master plan is scheduled to run from September 2026 to August 2027 and will identify and phase future improvement projects, with a target of completing selected projects within five years by 2032.

Gilbert Town Council has authorised Brown and Caldwell to develop the Arizona utility’s first SCADA and communications master plan, combining a review of water and wastewater control environments with a roadmap to connect facilities and remote sites through a resilient, town-owned fiber-optic network. The $723,205 professional-services contract, approved September 15 as part of a unanimous consent-calendar vote, covers CIP projects WW1278, the SCADA and Communications Master Plan, and WA1669, Remote Site SCADA. The 21-month contract has a proposed expiry of June 30, 2028, although the project schedule identifies work from September 2026 through August 2027. Gilbert currently operates different SCADA platforms across its utilities. The Water Division uses Wonderware at the North Water Treatment Plant, Santan Vista Water Treatment Plant and water-distribution system. The Wastewater Division uses Ignition at the Neely Water Reclamation Facility and for collections and reclaimed-water distribution. The town does not intend to combine those systems. Instead, the master plan is intended to standardise software and licensing across departments and facilities, provide a consistent human-machine-interface experience, and establish uniform cybersecurity and operating practices. It will operate at the Public Works department level rather than treating water and wastewater as separate divisions. Brown and Caldwell will undertake site assessments at the Neely wastewater treatment plant, Santan Vista and North water treatment plants, 29 water remote sites, 17 wastewater collection sites and 15 wastewater reuse sites. The scope includes reviews of PLC and HMI programming, network architecture, software and support arrangements, process-control documentation and physical site security. Operational technology cybersecurity is a core component. The consultant will assess Gilbert’s water and wastewater OT systems against IEC/ISA 62443 guidance, identify critical assets and process dependencies, carry out threat modelling, and establish a prioritised cybersecurity-controls matrix. Deliverables are to include cybersecurity specifications, policies and procedures, a role-based access-control matrix, and a cybersecurity change-management plan. The communications element addresses disparate existing arrangements. Water remote sites currently communicate by radio to the North Water Treatment Plant; Gilbert’s goal is to move those sites to fiber while retaining radio as redundant backup. Wastewater remote sites principally use cellular communications, with some already on fiber; the town’s stated aim is to shift these to fiber while keeping cellular as backup. The plan will map connection readiness and expected fiscal-year connections, assess fiber bandwidth needs, define network topology and redundancy, and set out responsibilities among SCADA, traffic and IT groups for use and support of the town-wide fiber network. It will also produce planning-level cost opinions and schedules for up to 10 town-selected implementation projects. Brown and Caldwell was selected following a request-for-qualifications process in which seven statements of qualifications were reviewed. Funding is available in Gilbert’s FY2027 wastewater and water capital budgets, with $321,332.50 assigned to WW1278 and $401,872.50 to WA1669.