Water, a finite and essential resource, is central to many sectors, from agriculture and manufacturing to healthcare and municipal services.
The need to optimize water usage, minimize waste, and ensure compliance with environmental regulations has spurred the development of innovative solutions.
Among these, water management software has emerged as a crucial tool in addressing the complex challenges associated with water resource management.
It can be hard to keep track of all the water you’re using, especially if you have a large property with lots of irrigation and landscaping.
These software applications provide a holistic approach to water resource monitoring, analysis, and optimization, enabling businesses and organizations to achieve greater efficiency, reduce costs, and contribute to a sustainable future.
The most useful thing to know before comparing these ten is that they are not competitors. They fall into four groups that serve different buyers: network modelling and digital twins for utilities (Bentley OpenFlows, Qatium), environmental and water quality compliance reporting (Wolters Kluwer Enablon, Intelex, ERA Environmental, Aquatic Informatics), commercial property water efficiency (Banyan Water), and irrigation control (Hunter). A utility shortlisting Banyan Water, or a property manager shortlisting Bentley, is comparing tools that were never built for the same job. Each entry below says which group it belongs to, who owns it today, and what the vendor actually publishes about price.
What is Water Management Software?
Water management software is a type of software that helps users manage their water usage. It can help track water usage, conserve water, and manage water delivery. Water management software can also help with related data management and asset management tasks.
Here is the list of the ten best water management tools.
1. Trimble
Check the vendor before you shortlist this one, because Trimble has sold both of the businesses this entry used to describe. On 3 January 2024 Trimble divested its remote water monitoring assets, including the Telog range of remote telemetry units and the Trimble Unity Remote Monitoring software, to Badger Meter. Three months later, on 1 April 2024, its precision agriculture business went into PTx Trimble, a joint venture 85 percent owned by AGCO, in exchange for $1.9 billion in cash and a 15 percent stake. Trimble kept the water related work that serves marine construction, infrastructure monitoring and surveying.
So if you came here for utility water monitoring software, the product is now sold by Badger Meter, and if you came for irrigation and field data, that is PTx Trimble. The description below covers Trimble’s wider project and field management tooling, which is still Trimble’s, but it is not a water management product in the sense the rest of this list uses.
It offers a range of features and tools designed specifically for the construction industry, such as project management, resource planning, scheduling, document control, and field management.
Features
- Grade control – Use Trimble grade control systems to improve vertical accuracy and efficiency while excavating, trenching, grading, or leveling.
- Land forming – Trimble land forming system streamlines the surveying, designing, and dirt-moving
- Farm drainage – Trimble farm drainage solutions help streamline analysis, design, installation, and verification steps for surface & subsurface drainages.
Screenshots of Trimble
Likes
- Suitable for contractors and farmers
- Grade control helps to increase yields, water usage, and productivity
- Controls excess water and hence reduces soil erosion
Dislikes
- The user interface is tedious to handle
Supported industries
- Agriculture
- Construction
- Geospatial
- Infrastructure
- Transportation
- Utilities
Other details
| Deployment | Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based |
| Supported device | Android, iPhone, iPad |
| Platforms | Web app |
| Intended users | Startups, SMEs, agencies, enterprise |
| Support | FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Email |
| Training | Videos |
| Customer ratings | Capterra: 4.4(17+reviews), G2: 4.5(885+reviews) |
User opinion
Trimble is an easy-to-use cloud-based platform that helps you carry out work satisfactorily. With the range of features it offers, like pre-season planning, yield monitoring, surface drainage system management, post-season analysis, and many more, it certainly aids in efficiently managing water resources.
2. Enablon
Enablon has been part of Wolters Kluwer since 2016, when it was bought for about 250 million euros, and it is now sold as Wolters Kluwer Enablon. That matters for how you buy it: this is an enterprise environment, health, safety and sustainability suite in which water sits as one reporting domain among many, not a standalone water product. Organisations already reporting emissions or incidents through Enablon get water tracking in the same system. Organisations that only want water management are buying a great deal of platform they will not use.
Features
- Chain of custody labels and forms
- Automated alerts
- Regulatory compliance
- Lab information system
- Data entry verification
- Formula builder tool
- Mobile data entry
- Lab data transfer
- Reporting tools
Likes
- Manages water permits and regulatory requirements
- Track exceedances and wastewater treatment system performance
- Streamline the management of water sampling activities
- Records wastewater monitoring data
Dislikes
- No free trial version is available
- Tedious learning curve
- Lack of training time
- The menu and user interface need to be improved
Other details
| Deployment | Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based |
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Android |
| Support | Email, Phone, Training |
| Language support | English, German, French |
| Customer ratings | Capterra: 4.0(1 reviews), G2: 4.0(12 reviews) |
User opinion
Enablon is a cloud-based application to oversee your water permits and regulatory norms. It helps keep track of the water discharges and water sampling logs at a centralized hub, improving water sampling and effectively meeting compliance requirements.
3. Bentley
Bentley is a water management software used by water and wastewater utilities and other water industry organizations.
It is crucial to future-proof water utilities by adopting smart and resilient approaches. The utilities can confidently plan, design, build, operate, and maintain water and wastewater systems.
Features
- Asset lifecycle information management
- Pipe stress and vessel analysis
- Structural detailing and analysis
- Utilities and communication networks
- Reality and spatial modeling
- Modeling and visualization
- Mobility simulation and analytics
- Hydraulics and hydrology
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Digital twins
Screenshots of Bentley
Likes
- Manages the lifecycle of water and wastewater infrastructure
- Helps to do raw water transmission, treatment, and distribution
- It helps to build good water treatment plants
Dislikes
- Tedious learning curve
- Not very user-friendly
- Lack of advanced features
- Takes time to load formats
- It takes lots of computer RAM
- Limited file formats
- Large files cannot be handled easily
- Compatibility issues
- Limited functionality
- Performance lag
Supported industries
- Cities and campuses
- Electric utilities
- Mining
- Rail and transit
- Roads and bridges
- Water Utilities
Other details
| Intended users | Startups, SMEs, Enterprises |
| Deployment | Cloud-based |
| Platforms | Web app, Windows |
| Support | Email, phone, training |
| Language support | Multi-lingual |
| Customer ratings | Capterra: 3.8(6 reviews), G2: 3.8(5 reviews) |
User opinion
This platform is a great help to architects, engineers, and many others for effective water management. It provides several tools for visualization, modeling, drafting, object management, and more.
Additionally, it can be used to map out, design, and improve the performance of different water infrastructures.
4. Aquatic Informatics
Aquatic Informatics handles the acquisition, curation, analysis and publication of water data, and is the strongest fit on this list for hydrometric and water quality data at scale. Two ownership facts belong here. It was acquired in July 2020 by Danaher’s water quality platform from XPV Water Partners, and moved to Veralto when Danaher spun that segment off in 2023. More importantly for anyone using this list, Aquatic Informatics owns WaterTrax, which appears separately at number 7 below, along with AQUARIUS and the Linko wastewater pretreatment product. Numbers 4 and 7 are therefore the same vendor, and choosing between them is choosing a module, not a supplier.
Features
- Analytics software for the natural environment
- Backflow prevention and cross-connection control hazards management
- Enterprise asset management
- Operations and Compliance
- Wastewater pretreatment and FOG regulatory compliance
- Water quality and wastewater compliance
- Water information management system
- Waste management
Screenshots of Aquatic Informatics
Likes
- Interconnected data management helps to manage the water information across the water cycle and hence protects human health and the environment.
- Provides efficient management with integrated data sources.
- Sustainable analytics and reporting.
- Provides real-time insights, contextual visualization tools, and interactive online access for clients.
Supported industries
- Utilities
- Mining
- Hydropower
- Consulting and engineering
- National and federal agencies
Other details
| Platform | Windows |
| Intended users | Startups, SMEs, Agencies, Enterprise |
| Support | |
| Customer ratings | G2: 5.0(2+ reviews) |
User opinion
Aquatic Informatics is one of the popular water management software for efficiently managing water resources across the water cycle to safeguard health and conserve the environment.
It offers several management apps and tools to meet compliance requirements, manage wastewater, manage water quality, and more.
5. Hunter
Hunter Industries is a company that provides water management software to various industries. Mainly it includes software for residential and commercial irrigation.
Features
- Multi-site option
- Water-saving feature
- Irrigation management
Dislikes
- No feature for BOM or CRM
Other details
| Deployment | Cloud-based |
| Platforms | Web app |
| Intended users | Startups, SMEs, Agencies, Enterprises |
| Support | |
| Customer ratings | Capterra: 4.6(561+reviews), G2: 4.4(467 reviews) |
User opinion
Hunter provides water management platforms for both homes and business establishments. It helps optimize efficiency through the irrigation management tool for multiple site management and water-saving features.
6. Intelex
Intelex centralises water quality compliance obligations inside a broader environment, health, safety and quality management software platform. It has been owned by Fortive since 2019, acquired for roughly $570 million through Fortive’s Industrial Scientific subsidiary from JMI Equity and HarbourVest. Like Enablon, it belongs in the compliance group rather than the water operations group: the reason to choose it is that water discharge reporting sits next to your safety and quality records, not that it models a distribution network.
Features
- Incident reporting
- Occupation Injury and illness
- Audit management
- Document control
- Training management
- Supplier management
- Permits management
- Job safety analysis
Screenshot of Intelex
Likes
- It centralizes and manages all global water quality-related compliance obligations.
- It helps to keep surrounding communities safe by reducing the risk of dangerous discharges.
- Provides real-time performance visibility
- Streamlines reporting and audit process
Dislikes
- Implementation is tedious
Supported industries
- Food and beverage
- Energy and electricity
- Construction
- Consumer goods
- Chemical
- Automotive
- Aviation and aerospace
Other details
| Deployment | Cloud-based |
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Android |
| Intended Users | Startups, fREE-lancers, Agencies, SMEs, Enterprise |
| Support | Email, phone, live support, training, tickets |
| Language support | English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish |
| Customer ratings | Capterra-5.0(1 review), G2-4.0(18 reviews) |
User opinion
Intelex platform helps control water and wastewater management and keep up with compliance norms, live insights into performance, organized reporting and auditing, and more.
7. WaterTrax
WaterTrax is a water and wastewater compliance and electronic reporting system used by utilities and municipalities. It is worth repeating the point made at number 4: WaterTrax is an Aquatic Informatics product, and therefore part of Veralto, sitting alongside AQUARIUS for hydrometric data and Linko for wastewater pretreatment. It is listed separately here because buyers search for it by name, but treat this and number 4 as one vendor with a product family. The practical question is which module fits, and that is a single conversation with one supplier rather than two competing quotes.
Features
- Waste water management
- Industrial pretreatment
- Fats, oil, and grease
- Compliance reporting
Screenshots of WaterTrax
Likes
- It automates the process of data collection, management, and electronic reporting.
- It helps to centralize water and wastewater data.
- Provides automatic alerts and notifications in case of exceedance.
- The formula builder tool helps to do automatic calculations.
Dislikes
- Scheduling is slightly problematic.
User opinion
Watertrax Water management software helps monitor, handle, and evaluate water and wastewater management effectively. It is suitable for municipal and commercial establishments and also helps meet regulatory standards.
8. ERA Environmental
ERA Environmental offers water management software that helps users track and manage their water usage, assets, and data. This powerful tool takes the complexity out of calculating chemical discharges and wastewater treatment metrics, and it has advanced data collection and calculation capabilities.
It harnesses information from your facility’s specific parameters and real water usage, making it a uniquely tailored and efficient solution for your water management needs. With ERA Environmental, you’re equipped to tackle water management effortlessly, ensuring regulatory compliance and environmental responsibility.
Features
- ETL data processing
- Reports and dashboards
- Compliances
- Change management
- Sustainability
- SDS management
- Risk management
- Quality management
- Document management
Screenshots of ERA Environmental
Likes
- Its environmental reporting tool provides voluntary sustainability programs.
- It gives real-time insights into your process’s impact on nearby water bodies.
- Provides clear visualization of water utilization.
- Provides comprehensive reports, including Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR) and other custom-made reports.
Dislikes
- Understanding the interface is a little bit difficult
Supported industries
- Oil and gas
- Automotive
- Aerospace
- Chemicals
- Food and beverages
- Energy and utilities
Other details
| Deployment | Cloud-based |
| Intended users | Startups, SMEs, Agencies, Enterprise |
| Platform | Web App, Windows |
| Support | Email, phone, training, tickets, live support |
| Language support | English |
| Customer ratings | Capterra: 4.2(12+reviews) |
User opinion
This platform completely tracks and analyses your water and wastewater data and gives the details of water usage, stormwater outfall, and more.
It provides automatic reporting and centralized sampling and keeps it in check with compliance.
9. Banyan Water
Banyan Water software is one of the most popular water management software suitable for businesses. This water management software provides real-time insights that can help to optimize water use across your entire system.
With the software, it can detect leaks, monitor usage patterns, and make data-driven decisions to minimize waste and lower expenses.
Features
- Banyan water central
- Irrigation insight
- Indoor Insight
- Cooling insights
Likes
- It helps to reduce the spending on water
- It helps to compare actual water costs to budgeted amounts
- Provides real-time data on your property’s water use
- Identifies hidden leaks
- Prevents damages and leaks
Supported industries
- Retail and hospitality
- Enterprise
- Fortune 500
- Offices
- Campuses
- Multi-family and student housing
User opinion
With a motto to save water, save money, and save time, this platform offers tools and features to monitor use, predict and analyze costs, prevent leaks, effective water use portfolio, and many more.
10. Qatium
Qatium is an open and interactive water management application that helps in effective water management solutions with the help of digital twinning with any data or resource available.
Features
- Data management and 3D view of the network
- Simulations to test network performance
- Connect SCADA and AMI data for digital twinning
- Collaboration and Knowledge sharing
Pricing
- Free: core functionality for a single user, limited to personal networks and a personal workspace
- Q-one: listed at zero cost, for local utilities and towns, currently bounded at roughly 8,000 customer points, 3 users and 80 km of network
- Q-plus: also listed at zero cost, for mid sized utilities, currently bounded at roughly 16,000 customer points, 5 users and 160 km of network
- Enterprise: quoted individually, for large utilities needing more capacity, custom plugins and more than 5 users
Qatium is the outlier on this list on price. Its two named utility tiers are published at no cost and are limited by capacity, in customer points, users and network length, rather than by a monthly fee, and the vendor runs a separate impact programme giving free or discounted access to under resourced utilities, non profits and research institutions. Budget for capacity limits and for the Enterprise conversation, not for a subscription. The pricing screenshots below predate the current plan structure.
Likes
- Simulations to minimize customer disturbances
- Examine hydrant capacity to correct fire flows
- Monitoring water quality
- Data visualization
Dislikes
- Missing tools (calibration)
Other details
| Deployment | Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based |
| Supported languages | English, Spanish |
| Customer Rating | 4.6 out of 5 in G2 |
User opinion
Qatium is a smart water management software that enables your team to detect and improve the water network efficiency and maintain the service.
Qatium water management software is good at its user-friendly interface and ease of use. The full visibility provided to operations and planning teams, allows them to efficiently run their networks.
Note: All the above water monitoring software solutions (except Qatium) are not provided pricing details on their official website. You need to contact them directly for the details.
FAQs
How does it benefit businesses in the agriculture sector?
Water management software is a specialized type of software designed to help businesses in the agriculture sector effectively manage their water resources and usage. It integrates with various aspects of agricultural operations, providing comprehensive tools and features to optimize water management.
What are the key features to look for in ERP water resources management software?
The key features of ERP water management software are
– Efficient Water Resource Allocation
– Real-time Monitoring
– Data-driven Decision Making
– Automation of Irrigation
Conclusion
The water management software market is increasing as municipalities and other organizations become more aware of the importance of efficient water management.
Match the tool to the job rather than to the ranking. If you run a distribution network, the shortlist is Bentley OpenFlows and Qatium, and Qatium’s published tiers cost nothing up to a capacity limit, so it is cheap to evaluate first. If your problem is regulatory reporting, look at Wolters Kluwer Enablon, Intelex, ERA Environmental and Aquatic Informatics, and expect water to be one module of a wider compliance platform. If you manage commercial property, Banyan Water is the only entry here built for that. If you need irrigation control, that is Hunter. Two cautions from the research behind this page: numbers 4 and 7 are the same vendor, and Trimble no longer owns the water monitoring products it is still widely listed for.
References
- Overview of Trimble support
- Get to know how to download Bentley software
- Resource library of Aquatic Informatics
- Online training for Hunter
- Intelex case studies
- WaterTrax whitepapers
- ERA Environmental guides
- Banyan water whitepapers