Expertise
March has been trusted by key UK industries for decades. We understand the challenges that business faces in terms of productivity, competition, cost control, safety, security and compliance.
MARCH was appointed to support a UK water utility site facing escalating risk and uncertainty across its control systems, with the challenge of making change while operations remained live.
The challenge
The existing ICA (Instrumental, Control and Automation) infrastructure supporting a UK water utilities company had evolved over time, resulting in a mix of outdated and unsupported control systems that made future planning increasingly difficult.
Limited and inconsistent documentation meant a detailed investigation was required to fully understand system interdependencies, inter‑PLC communications and operational constraints.
All upgrades needed to be carefully planned and delivered within a live operational environment, ensuring continuity of service and minimising risk throughout delivery.
Solution
MARCH delivered a comprehensive site‑wide ICA upgrade, replacing legacy and unsupported systems with a modern, standardised control and network architecture. A detailed front‑end engineering approach enabled inter‑PLC communications and system dependencies to be fully understood, supporting a carefully planned migration strategy delivered within a live operational environment. The result is a more scalable ICA platform, enhanced operational capability, providing a robust foundation aligned to long‑term asset and resilience strategies.
Results
With the upgraded ICA environment now in place, the site benefits from a clearer, more dependable operational baseline. Previous constraints caused by ageing technology and uncertainty have been removed, enabling day‑to‑day operations to be managed with greater assurance. The strengthened foundations support consistent performance within a live, safety‑critical water utility environment, giving stakeholders confidence that systems can be operated, maintained and adapted without introducing unnecessary risk. This provides lasting value beyond the project itself, supporting informed decision‑making, future investment planning and alignment with long‑term asset and resilience objectives.