Water & Wastewater Automation:
SCADA, Telemetry & Unmanned Asset Control
MASK Control Systems designs and delivers automation solutions for water and utilities operators across the UK and worldwide. Since 2013, we have engineered SCADA systems, telemetry integrations, and fully automated control solutions built for the distributed, often unmanned nature of water and wastewater infrastructure.
Our team understands the regulatory requirements this sector operates under, and we build every project to support compliance rather than complicate it.
Why Water & Utilities Operations Need Specialized Automation
Water and wastewater assets are frequently spread across wide geographic areas, and many of them, including pumping stations, reservoirs, and remote treatment works, operate unmanned for most of the day. This makes reliable SCADA and telemetry systems essential rather than optional.
Unmanned Asset Reliability
Pumping stations and reservoirs operate unmanned for days at a time. The monitoring infrastructure directly dictates both your regulatory compliance and operational maintenance costs.
Environment Agency Compliance
Regulators expect continuous, defensible digital data rather than periodic manual readings. A site that cannot produce auditable data is exposed regardless of treatment performance.
Centralized Visibility
Operators need to know the live status of every pump station and overflow weir from a single control point, eliminating inefficient routine site visit rotations.
Energy & Pump Optimization
Intelligent automated staging and variable frequency drive control reduce energy tariffs during peak tariff windows while preventing wet-well sediment accumulation.
Transitioning regional water authorities, industrial discharge facilities, and municipal wastewater works toward continuous, audit-defensible telemetry.
The UK Water & Utilities
Regulatory Landscape
MCERTS, the Environment Agency's Monitoring Certification Scheme, sets the UK's standard for environmental monitoring equipment and services, covering flow measurement, water quality monitoring, and emissions reporting. It exists to ensure that the data operators submit to regulators is accurate, reliable, and defensible under scrutiny, and it has become a baseline expectation across the sector rather than an optional extra.
The regulatory landscape is also shifting further toward continuous monitoring. Section 82 of the Environment Act is driving a broader move away from periodic sampling and toward continuous water quality monitoring across the industry, and operators who have not yet adapted their systems to this expectation are likely to face increasing pressure to do so.
This shift has created a specific skills gap. Engineers who understand both control systems engineering and EA compliance requirements are not easy to find, and many water and utilities operators are turning to experienced outsourced partners like MASK Control Systems rather than trying to build that combined expertise in-house.
Signs Your Facility Needs Water & Utilities Automation Support
Several recurring signals tell us a water or utilities facility is ready for an automation review before compliance gaps escalate into regulatory sanctions:
Reliance on Manual Spot Readings
Your operational team still relies on periodic manual grab samples and clipboards where continuous digital monitoring is now the regulatory expectation.
Aging Telemetry & SCADA Bottlenecks
Legacy RTUs and aging SCADA systems are failing to communicate reliably, leaving your team unable to satisfy current EA compliance reporting formats.
Frequent Physical Inspection Visits
Remote pumping stations, overflow points, and storage reservoirs still require routine physical site visits just to confirm basic pump and level status.
Audit Hardships with MCERTS Data
Demonstrating MCERTS-aligned data traceability and sensor calibration during an Environment Agency audit has become difficult and time-consuming.
End-of-Life Pump Control Hardware
Critical pump control cabinets, soft starters, or outdated PLCs are reaching end-of-life with no available spare parts or manufacturer support.
In-House Telemetry Engineering Deficit
Your internal engineering staff lacks the specific capacity or communication systems experience needed to execute a network-wide SCADA migration.
Need to upgrade SCADA or telemetry ahead of an EA deadline?
An automation review is worth prioritizing before audit findings or reporting gaps become enforcement notices.
Our Water & Utilities Automation Services
From sophisticated pump sequencing PLC logic to weatherproof outdoor control panels, centralized SCADA networks, and remote telemetry links, we engineer systems that keep unmanned infrastructure compliant and reliable.
PLC Programming & Control Systems
We develop sophisticated control logic for complex pump, treatment, and process control applications using industry-leading platforms such as Siemens, Mitsubishi, and Unitronics. Our programming is specifically architected to handle the rigorous demands of unmanned water infrastructure, ensuring high reliability, stability, and precise performance. By focusing on robust error-handling and automated response sequences, we minimize the need for manual intervention and keep your processes running smoothly without constant site presence.
Electrical Control Panel Design & Build
We design and manufacture high-performance electrical control panels tailored for challenging installation sites, including those in exposed or outdoor environments. Recognizing the limitations of standard indoor enclosures, we build our panels using durable, weather-resistant materials that protect sensitive internal components from moisture, extreme temperatures, and environmental contaminants. Each unit is custom-engineered to maintain operational integrity in harsh conditions, ensuring long-term reliability for your distributed assets.
SCADA Development
Our SCADA development focuses on creating centralized, intuitive control architectures that provide full visibility across your entire network of distributed water assets. By consolidating data from multiple pumping stations, treatment sites, and reservoirs into a single, cohesive dashboard, we eliminate the operational inefficiency of manual site visits. This unified view empowers your team to monitor performance, analyze trends, and make informed decisions from a central location, significantly improving overall asset management.
Telemetry Integration
We specialize in the seamless integration of remote terminal units and robust data communication systems designed to keep your most remote sites connected to your central control infrastructure. By establishing reliable, low-latency links between unmanned field assets and your primary systems, we ensure you have real-time status visibility at all times. Our approach to telemetry minimizes data gaps and ensures that your critical operational information is always available, even for assets in geographically difficult or isolated locations.
Remote Monitoring & Condition Diagnostics
Our comprehensive remote monitoring solutions deliver real-time system diagnostics and automated alerts specifically designed for the needs of reservoirs, pumping stations, and water treatment works. By implementing continuous condition-based monitoring, we enable your maintenance team to identify and resolve emerging issues—such as pump inefficiency or sensor drift—well before they escalate into significant compliance incidents or operational failures. This proactive approach helps protect your infrastructure while reducing the frequency of emergency site visits.
Installation & Commissioning
We manage end-to-end installation and commissioning projects, specifically designed for deployment within live, operational water and utility environments. Understanding the critical nature of these facilities, our team works with precision to integrate new upgrades without disrupting ongoing treatment or distribution processes. We meticulously plan every stage of the transition, from initial on-site deployment to final system testing, ensuring a seamless handover that maintains operational continuity throughout the upgrade process.
Supporting EA Compliance and
MCERTS-Aligned Monitoring
Compliance in this sector depends on data you can defend, and we design our systems around that principle.
MCERTS exists to ensure that monitoring equipment and services meet defined standards for accuracy and reliability, and we design our SCADA and telemetry systems to support that same level of confidence in every reading your facility produces.
Our systems are built to generate the continuous, auditable data that Environment Agency compliance increasingly requires, particularly as Section 82 of the Environment Act pushes the sector further toward continuous water quality monitoring rather than periodic sampling. Whether you are preparing for a routine audit or adapting to a new monitoring requirement, our systems are designed to give you data you can stand behind.
MCERTS-Aligned Accuracy
Our flow measurement and water quality data architectures align with the Environment Agency's Monitoring Certification Scheme, ensuring defensible data.
Section 82 Environment Act
Engineered to satisfy the continuous water quality monitoring mandates of Section 82, transitioning operations from periodic grab sampling to automated telemetry.
Defensible Audit Trails
Automated, tamper-evident data logging that captures continuous turbidity, dissolved oxygen, flow rate, and spill events ready for regulatory inspection.
Tri-Certified Quality
Backed by ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 17020 (Inspection), and ISO 17025 (Calibration) certifications for full traceability across all panels and sensor loops.
Supporting Water & Utilities Operators Worldwide
We are headquartered in Cullompton, Devon, in the United Kingdom, and we apply the same engineering discipline to water and utilities projects across three continents.
Whether your facility operates across UK regional water catchments, European utility authorities, or international municipal works, you receive the same rigorous process, the same certified quality management systems, and the same commitment to long-term lifecycle support.
Rapid mobilization to regional water authorities, canal networks, and industrial discharge plants across the UK for scheduled commissioning and breakdown response.
Fully pre-configured, tested RTU and SCADA packages delivered internationally, backed by remote commissioning and flying engineering squads.
Secure cloud monitoring identifying pump cavitation, thermal rise, and rising well levels to prevent spills and regulatory incidents before they develop.
How We Work
We follow a structured process on every water and utilities automation project:
Consultation & Site Audit
We assess your current water assets, communication links, compliance obligations, and telemetry infrastructure feasibility.
System Design
Our engineers develop CAD schematics, RTU communication architectures, and SCADA functional specifications aligned with EA standards.
In-House Build & FAT
We manufacture weatherproof control panels and program PLC logic in-house, completing rigorous Factory Acceptance Testing before dispatch.
Live-Site Commissioning
We install on-site within active treatment environments, execute end-to-end telemetry testing, and train your staff without interrupting supply.
Lifecycle Support
We provide ongoing preventative servicing, remote monitoring, and long-term technical support to ensure continuous compliance and reliability.
Why Operators Choose MASK for
Water & Utilities Automation
We hold ISO 9001, ISO 17020, and ISO 17025 certifications, and we bring that same quality management discipline to every water and utilities project we take on. Our team works across Siemens, Mitsubishi, Unitronics, Allen-Bradley, and Omron platforms, so we recommend the right technology for your facility rather than defaulting to a single vendor's equipment.
We manage every project end to end, from initial design through build, installation, commissioning, and ongoing support, so you work with one accountable engineering partner rather than coordinating multiple contractors.
As the shortage of engineers who understand both control systems and EA compliance continues to affect the sector, we act as an experienced outsourced team who already understands what regulators expect and how to design systems that meet it.
Tri-Certified Quality Assurance
ISO 9001, ISO 17020, and ISO 17025 accredited quality management applied to panel manufacturing, sensor loop testing, and flow calibration.
Vendor-Agnostic Objectivity
Specialist expertise across Siemens, Mitsubishi, Unitronics, Rockwell, and Schneider controllers to match your existing regional framework standards.
Single Accountable Partner
End-to-end delivery from civil/mechanical coordination and electrical panel fabrication to telemetry commissioning and 24/7 technical breakdown support.
Bridging the EA Compliance Skills Gap
Immediate access to senior controls engineers who understand both PLC logic and Environment Agency MCERTS / Section 82 regulatory expectations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Key questions water utility operators, plant managers, and compliance directors ask when evaluating MASK Control Systems:
What is MCERTS, and how does it affect our automation systems?
Can you upgrade telemetry at remote or unmanned sites?
How do you support Environment Agency compliance reporting?
Do you work on live sites without disrupting ongoing operations?
Do you deliver water and utilities automation projects outside the UK?
Explore Other Industries We Serve
In addition to water and utilities, MASK engineers bespoke control and automation systems across diverse industrial sectors:
Get In Touch With Our Water & Utilities Engineers
If you are planning a water or utilities automation project, or you need to modernize your SCADA and telemetry infrastructure ahead of a compliance deadline, our team is ready to help. Explore our other industry sectors or contact us directly to discuss your requirements.