Case Study

Water Digital Infrastructure

Yarra Valley Water: Telemetry Radio Replacement

Modernising critical telemetry communications and digital radio infrastructure for Victoria's largest retail water utility.

Project Reference

YVW-41424

Handover Date

December 2025

2M+

Population Served

60+ yrs

Combined Team Experience

4 OEM

Radio Platforms Evaluated

DNP3 / IP

Migration Readiness

“Management of communications, weekly progress reporting, and technical execution by the project engineering team was exceptional. Parasyn systematically addressed legacy data gaps and remained highly motivated to solve complex architectural challenges, establishing a rock-solid roadmap for our digital radio network modernisation.”

Senior Project Manager, Yarra Valley Water

Project Overview

The Digital Radio Network Upgrade (Design) Project was initiated to address the strategic planning and specification requirements for modernising Yarra Valley Water's (YVW) expansive but ageing telemetry radio network. As critical data delivery infrastructure, the telemetry network connects hundreds of remote water and wastewater assets across the region, serving as the foundational communications layer for real-time operational visibility and control.

YVW required highly specialised consulting engineering, field analysis, and technical strategy services to map out a clear path for a complete physical and operational migration from legacy radio platforms to a modern, secure, high-capacity digital wireless architecture. Crucially, this engagement was focused heavily on planning, assessment, and vendor-independent design rather than immediate physical installation, ensuring complete alignment with YVW's overarching SCADA, cyber security, and long-term asset management strategies.

Technical Scope & Requirements

The core objective was to deliver a secure, reliable, and standardised future-state radio network architecture and procurement specification in strict compliance with utility standards. Key deliverables across the project lifecycle included:

RFQ & Intent Analysis

Dissecting network design criteria to pivot the engineering approach toward comprehensive long-term planning, capacity forecasting, and architectural sustainability.

Field Surveys & Baseline Mapping

Executing physical radio network site surveys to capture baseline RF signals, assess path line-of-sight, audit existing antenna infrastructure, and identify real-world signal interference.

OEM & Vendor Requirements Specification

Developing a rigorous Telemetry Radio Requirements Specification used to evaluate OEMs and software-defined radio vendors against stringent utility standards.

Data & Protocol Integration

Defining migration profiles for real-time telemetry traffic, ensuring seamless native handling of secure DNP3 and IP-based protocols, optimised buffering, and latency management back to the central SCADA host.

The Parasyn Solution

Parasyn deployed a methodology engineered around its Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) and a structured, criteria-driven analysis framework, ensuring every technical requirement was meticulously verified against YVW's operational goals before finalising the strategic recommendations.

Implementation Budget Development

Acknowledging typical data gaps found across legacy utility telemetry assets, Parasyn worked transparently during discovery to explicitly define project and survey boundaries, minimising scope creep while maximising commercial certainty.

Domain Expert Team

Senior telecommunications specialists, automation engineers, and SCADA systems architects with extensive experience deploying critical wireless infrastructure across the Australian water sector, combined experience exceeding 60 years.

System & Spectrum Optimisation

Rather than a basic like-for-like hardware swap, Parasyn analysed the entire RF topology, optimising channel bandwidth, maximising spectral efficiency, and establishing repeatable site-typing configurations.

Works Delivery Methodology

Because critical water and wastewater telemetry networks must maintain high availability to prevent compliance risks, disrupting the existing environment was avoided.

Phase 1: Proposal & RFQ Alignment (March 2025)
Established clear execution frameworks, resource allocation, and technical methodologies tailored specifically to YVW's operational constraints.
Phase 2: Field Investigation & Site Surveys (August 2025)
Dispatched field engineering teams to audit local RF environments, inspect physical mast infrastructure, and capture empirical signal path health data.
Phase 3: Initial Specification & Vendor Criteria (August 2025)
Drafted the initial Telemetry Radio Requirements Specification, setting the baseline technical, security, and protocol compliance bar for potential hardware vendors.
Phase 4: Final Engineering Analysis & Reporting (December 2025)
Synthesised all field findings, OEM vendor capabilities, and future capacity models into the final Requirements Specification and Selection Report.
Weekly Progress & Risk Reporting
A transparent weekly reporting cycle tracked engineering milestones, actively managed technical risks, and kept utility stakeholders aligned throughout.

Project Outcomes & Handover

The project concluded with the formal delivery and acceptance of the final engineering report in December 2025, meeting all contractual milestones and technical deliverables.

✓

Technical Success

Achieved total functional alignment with YVW's technology roadmap, providing high-fidelity engineering data and clear architectural options for the future-state digital radio network.

↑

Network Design Uplift

Created a comprehensive, standard-compliant procurement framework that eliminates legacy hardware obsolescence risk and establishes a scalable, secure wireless backbone.

★

Safety & Quality

All engineering, data analysis, and field survey works were delivered in strict alignment with ISO 9001, ISO 45001, and ISO 14001 management standards.

Compliance Standards

ISO 9001 — Quality

ISO 45001 — Safety

ISO 14001 — Environment

IPSec Security

DNP3 Protocol

Lessons Learned & Future Recommendations

The following insights were captured to inform the upcoming procurement and physical deployment phases across the utility's asset portfolio:

Insight	Impact & Context	Recommendation
Verify Live RF Environments vs. Models	Predictive RF path software often misses local terrain changes, foliage growth, or recent structural obstructions that degrade signal health.	Always pair desktop path studies with physical, on-site RF signal and line-of-sight verification before finalising hardware selection.
Mitigate Legacy Structural Discrepancies	Older utility telemetry masts and poles frequently lack structural documentation or have undergone unrecorded field modifications.	Factor in early, detailed physical structural and earthing audits of existing masts to identify remediation needs prior to procurement.
Isolate Spectrum & Licensing Dependencies	Relying on external regulatory bodies for spectrum allocation and licensing can significantly compress or delay physical rollout timelines.	Initiate licensing requests and channel allocation discussions early in the planning process, independent of final hardware selection.