Water utilities face a distinct set of software and operational challenges compared to electric utilities. The physical asset, water in pipes under pressure, behaves differently from electrons on a wire, and the business model differs too: water is rarely deregulated, rates are typically tiered by consumption volume, and non-revenue water (NRW) is a persistent efficiency problem that spans operations and billing simultaneously.
SCADA as the Operational Backbone
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are the real-time nervous system of a water utility. They monitor pressure, flow, tank levels, pump station status, and treatment process parameters. Modern SCADA platforms from vendors active in the water sector integrate with GIS systems, typically Esri ArcGIS, to give operators a network map view alongside telemetry data.
The integration between SCADA and the CIS is less mature in water than in electric utilities. In electric, AMI data flows through MDM into billing as a defined process. In water, SCADA data often stays in the operational silo unless a specific integration project has connected it to billing. This gap creates reconciliation problems: the SCADA system may show distribution volumes that do not match the sum of billed consumption, the NRW delta.
Non-Revenue Water: An Operations and Billing Problem
NRW reduction is the top operational priority for most water utilities globally. The components of NRW are real losses (leaks, main breaks, storage overflow), apparent losses (meter under-registration, data errors, unauthorized use), and unbilled authorized consumption (firefighting, flushing). Each component requires a different remediation approach.
On the apparent losses side, AMI deployment using Itron or Landis+Gyr water meters gives utilities read intervals comparable to electric AMI, 15-minute or hourly reads, which makes meter tampering and low-flow registration failures detectable in the data. The catch is the same as in electric: the data is only actionable if the MDM-to-CIS handoff is reliable. A billing system that processes monthly meter reads cannot generate the exception reports needed to catch apparent losses at scale.
Pressure management within defined DMAs is the primary tool for real loss reduction. Lower operating pressure reduces leak flow rates and extends pipe life. SCADA-integrated pressure reducing valve control is the implementation mechanism. This is an operational technology discipline rather than a billing one, but it affects billed consumption indirectly by reducing the volume lost before it reaches a meter.
CIS and Billing for Water Utilities
Water billing has its own complexity. Tiered consumption rates (low lifeline tiers, high-use penalty tiers), seasonal drought surcharges, combined water-wastewater billing on a single account, and budget billing programs all require a CIS with a flexible rate engine.
Cayenta CIS from Harris Computer serves a substantial number of water and wastewater utilities in North America. It handles multi-commodity billing (water, wastewater, solid waste) on a single account, supports AMI data ingestion, and includes the Silverblaze customer portal for self-service and the SmartWorks module for field operations. For utilities that bill for both water and electric service, a unified CIS can reduce the account reconciliation burden significantly.
SAP IS-U can be configured for water billing but is not widely deployed in the water sector outside utilities that also operate electric service and want a single ERP backbone. Oracle CC&B is similarly capable but sector penetration in water is lower than in electric.
Smart Metering and Customer Programs
Water AMI deployments are less mature than electric, but the trajectory is the same. Itron’s water metering platform and Landis+Gyr’s water products both support automated meter reading and leak alert notifications to customers. Customer-facing leak alerts, notifying a homeowner of unusual nighttime flow that suggests a running toilet or slow leak, are a straightforward AMI use case that demonstrably reduces NRW and improves customer satisfaction.
Customer portal adoption for water utilities is lower than electric, partly because billing is less complex and partly because the engagement touchpoints are fewer. Cayenta’s Silverblaze portal supports usage dashboards, paperless billing, and payment options for water accounts, the standard toolkit for driving digital self-service adoption.
The Integration Priority
For water utilities, the highest-value integration work is connecting SCADA/pressure data with meter read data in a way that enables DMA-level water balance analysis. This does not require replacing the CIS, it requires an analytics layer that can join operational and billing data. Once that data is available, the path to measurable NRW reduction is clear.
Our utility billing ERP pillar covers platform options for multi-commodity utilities. For help assessing whether your current metering and CIS infrastructure supports an NRW reduction program, contact AvanSaber.