Leveraging the 4.9-GHz Wireless Spectrum to Give Your Municipal Water/Wastewater Network a Makeover

In freshwater delivery and wastewater treatment operations (W/WW), reliable and timely data can make all the difference in improving efficiency and reducing costs. Antiquated communication architectures may barely be able to keep up with existing SCADA applications, let alone have the bandwidth, security features, scalability and environmental ruggedness required to connect to remote sites or add applications. These limitations make it difficult for operations and management teams to make timely and informed decisions. As the demands on network infrastructure for W/WW operations continue to escalate, it is clear that new solutions that are scalable, secure and reliable must be explored. The 4.9-GHz wireless spectrum is vastly underutilized, uniquely available and far less susceptible to the RF interference seen in the traditionally used unlicensed 900-MHz frequency band, making it particularly well suited for municipalities with operations such as water, wastewater or electric power. This paper discusses an alternative wireless technology standard based on this frequency band that has proven to be a network problem solver and upgrade to legacy communication networks for other customers in these markets.