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Beetle Engineering & Automation
0428 500 880 Get a quote
Industries / Water & Utilities
MackayBowen BasinCentral Queensland

Automation Engineering for Water and Utilities Operations

Beetle Engineering supports water, wastewater, and utilities operations across Central Queensland with SCADA programming, PLC upgrades, industrial networking, and OT cybersecurity. We work with councils, water authorities, and private utilities on the control and automation systems that keep essential infrastructure running.

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Water & Utilities
What we see on water & utilities sites
  • Aging SCADA and telemetry systems that are difficult to maintain, lack vendor support, and create risk when remote pump stations or treatment plant lose visibility.
  • Remote assets spread across large geographic areas, where a communications failure or instrument fault can leave operators without visibility of critical infrastructure for extended periods.
  • Growing cybersecurity exposure on operational technology networks that were designed without security controls and are increasingly connected to corporate IT systems and the internet.
  • Regulatory compliance obligations for water quality, discharge standards, and critical infrastructure protection that require documented control systems and audit-ready records.
  • Difficulty recruiting and retaining automation and SCADA expertise in regional Queensland, leaving councils and utilities dependent on vendors for routine system changes.
  • Budget constraints that require engineering investment to be justified against operational savings and risk reduction rather than production uplift.
How we help

Engineering for essential infrastructure

Water and wastewater systems do not have a shutdown window. Treatment plant, pump stations, and distribution networks run continuously, and a control system failure that leaves operators without visibility of a remote asset is not just an inconvenience - it is a potential public health and environmental risk.

The automation and control systems on water and utilities infrastructure are often a mix of generations. Older telemetry RTUs running on 3G networks that are being decommissioned. SCADA systems built on platforms that vendors no longer support. PLC programs that nobody has the source files for. These are the situations we work in regularly.

What we do in water and utilities

Our water and utilities work covers SCADA design and programming, PLC and RTU upgrades, industrial networking, telemetry systems, and OT cybersecurity. We work on both greenfield installations and upgrades to existing systems on live infrastructure.

SCADA upgrades are a significant part of our utilities work. Migrating from legacy platforms to modern Ignition or AVEVA systems, improving alarm management, adding historian capability, and extending remote monitoring to assets that previously had no telemetry are all projects we have delivered for councils and water authorities.

Remote pump station control and monitoring requires a combination of reliable hardware, appropriate communications, and control logic that handles the fault conditions that come up when no one is on site. We design systems that fail safely and alert operators when intervention is needed, rather than systems that fail silently.

OT cybersecurity and compliance

Water utilities are classified as critical infrastructure under the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act, which creates specific obligations around cybersecurity risk management. OT networks on water and wastewater sites are increasingly connected to corporate IT systems, cloud services, and vendor remote access - each connection that is not properly managed is an exposure.

We assess OT network architecture, identify uncontrolled access paths, and implement security controls that are practical in an operational environment - network segmentation, secure remote access with authentication and logging, patch management for control system components, and monitoring for anomalous behaviour.

Working with regional utilities

Regional councils and water authorities in Central Queensland operate with constrained budgets and limited access to in-house automation expertise. We understand this reality. Our engineering deliverables are designed to be maintained by council electrical staff - clear documentation, readable PLC code, and SCADA systems that operators can configure and troubleshoot without calling a specialist for every change.

Platforms found across water & utilities sites

Platforms we work with

Rockwell Automation
Schneider Electric
Siemens
Ignition
AVEVA
Telstra SCADA
FAQ

Common questions about our water & utilities work.

Yes. A significant part of our utilities work is with local government - councils managing water and wastewater infrastructure across regional Queensland. We understand the procurement requirements, budget cycles, and reporting obligations that come with local government projects, and we provide clear documentation and handover so council staff can maintain systems we deliver.
Yes. SCADA upgrades on live water and wastewater infrastructure require careful planning to maintain operational visibility throughout the transition. We design migrations to maintain monitoring and control at all times, with cutover managed in stages or during low-demand windows. We have experience migrating legacy telemetry and SCADA platforms to modern systems on live networks.
Yes. Water and wastewater utilities face specific cybersecurity requirements under the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act and guidance from the ASD. We assess your current OT network, identify exposure, and implement practical security controls - network segmentation, secure remote access, patch management, and monitoring - that are appropriate for operational technology environments.
Yes. Remote pump station automation and telemetry are a regular part of our utilities work. We design and commission RTU and PLC-based control systems with reliable communications back to the SCADA system, including 4G, radio, and private network options depending on site conditions and reliability requirements.

Working in water & utilities? Let's talk.

We support water & utilities operations across Mackay, the Bowen Basin and Central Queensland. Get in touch to discuss your project.

Get a quote → 0428 500 880