By Schneider Electric

Growth that demands a new approach

Over the past two decades, the City of Conroe, Texas, grew from about 30,000 residents to more than 115,000. That expansion created an urgent infrastructure challenge: increase water capacity quickly while continuing to deliver reliable service to every home and business. Where the city once built one water plant every five years, it now constructs four annually. Its system has expanded from four plants to 19, supported by approximately 1,200 miles of water and sewer pipe.

The limits of manual, proprietary systems

Conroe had relied on proprietary supervisory control and data acquisition systems that became harder to support as technologies aged and vendors moved on. Operators also traveled to facilities each day to record information by hand. According to Daniel Roberts, water and sewer superintendent for the City of Conroe, collecting data across the plants could consume four to five hours for one or two operators every day. That work kept the system running, but it reduced the time available for proactive maintenance, optimization and long-range planning.

Standardizing for scale

To support continued growth, Conroe selected EcoStruxure Automation Expert, together with Modicon M262 controllers, EcoStruxure SCADA Expert, remote monitoring and automated reporting. The city began with four sites and expanded the approach across all 19 water plants. A standardized control strategy allows engineering work to be developed once and replicated across facilities, creating a more consistent foundation for expansion. Identical replacement units can also be kept on hand, helping teams restore operations quickly when equipment needs attention.

From collection to action

Remote access changed the operators’ daily routine. Instead of visiting every facility with a clipboard, teams can review real-time information from iPads and desktop computers. Reports that once required hours of manual collection are now prepared automatically overnight. The result is more than 50 hours of manual data work saved each week, giving operators more time to assess performance, address maintenance needs and support the city’s continuing expansion.

Responding before service is affected

The modernized system continuously monitors water-quality and operating data and alerts personnel when readings move outside acceptable ranges. That advance gives the team an opportunity to investigate and correct emerging issues before customers are affected. Automated reporting also supports the detailed production, storage-level and pressure information required for regulatory compliance. For a utility serving a rapidly growing community, earlier visibility helps shift operations from reactive response toward proactive service.

Measurable operational gains

Conroe reports recovery time improvements of up to 80% after system faults. The city also expects engineering efficiency to improve by up to 70% as standardized systems and automated data collection allow technical staff to spend less time on repetitive work. Standardization has shortened new-plant configuration and commissioning from weeks or months to days, matching the pace required to add four plants annually.

Reliable water at every tap

The most important outcome is straightforward: reliable water service for Conroe’s residents. The technology operates largely behind the scenes, but it helps the utility monitor 19 plants, respond faster and manage growth with greater consistency. For municipalities facing aging systems, limited staff time and increasing demand, Conroe’s experience shows how open, software-defined automation can create a repeatable path to modernization without losing sight of the essential mission: keeping water flowing.

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Watch the City of Conroe video to learn more and see the transformation in action.