Overview
ISO 24591-1:2024 - Smart water management - Part 1: General guidelines and governance provides high-level principles and practical guidance for applying digital and “smart” approaches to drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems. It is aimed at public and private water utilities of all sizes that plan to design, develop, implement, operate or maintain smart water management systems. The standard emphasizes system design, operation & maintenance, and governance-helping utilities modernize using sensors, IoT/IIoT, data analytics and automated control while addressing interoperability, cybersecurity and organizational change.
Key topics and technical requirements
This part of ISO 24591 covers foundational elements rather than prescriptive technical specifications. Major topics include:
- Scope and definitions for smart water terminology (aligned with ISO 24513).
- Design principles and a recommended logical architecture with layered components:
- Sensing layer (online measurements, sensors)
- Monitoring & control layer (real‑time data acquisition, controllers)
- Application layer (analytics, decision support, dashboards)
- Operation layer (field operations, maintenance workflows)
- Integration-by-design and interoperability to avoid data silos and support systems integration.
- Cybersecurity-by-design: embedding security across the lifecycle (Annex B provides a cybersecurity reference model).
- Data management: repositories, governance, and use of data for decision-making.
- Operation & maintenance guidance: reliability verification, infrastructure security, performance indicators (PIs) and emergency response planning.
- Governance and organizational requirements: leadership, roles & responsibilities, workforce organization and change management.
Practical applications and who uses it
ISO 24591-1 is practical for:
- Water utility managers and engineers planning digital transformation or smart metering projects.
- System integrators and solution vendors designing interoperable IoT/IIoT architectures and secure deployments.
- Consultants and planners developing implementation roadmaps, PIs and emergency response plans.
- Regulators and public agencies guiding policy, procurement and cross-sector collaboration in smart cities.
- IT/Cybersecurity teams working on secure-by-design implementations for critical water infrastructure.
Practical use cases include remote monitoring of distribution networks, predictive maintenance workflows, real‑time control of treatment processes, and governance frameworks for multi‑stakeholder smart city integrations.
Related standards
- ISO 24513 (vocabulary for water service activities) - referenced for definitions.
- ISO 24540 (governance terms referenced).
- Relevant ISO/IEC standards for IoT, cybersecurity and data exchange are applicable when implementing details.
ISO 24591-1:2024 is a governance and design guide to accelerate trustworthy, interoperable and secure smart water deployments-readers should consult the full standard for implementation details and normative references.
