Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, will showcase automation and digital technologies at the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) 2026 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center held in New Orleans (September 26-30). As North America’s largest annual water-quality exhibition, WEFTEC brings together more than 23,000 attendees and 950 exhibitors for 125 educational sessions.
The exhibition is happening as water and wastewater utilities are facing mounting pressure amid aging infrastructure, water scarcity, rising energy costs, workforce challenges, and escalating cybersecurity threats. Previous research from Schneider Electric found that 60% of U.S. leaders believe water-related risks will outpace all other infrastructure threats.
Against this backdrop, organizations across the water sector are looking to accelerate investments to modernize, digitalize, and boost cyber preparedness to ensure reliable service and long-term sustainability.
“Water providers are facing significant challenges from aging infrastructure, growing cyber threats, and increased pressure on resources. By adopting and deploying open, software-defined automation and technologies to secure industrial systems, organizations can harden critical infrastructure, future-proof operations, and leverage the agility of modern software to enable quicker, data-driven decisions throughout the water ecosystem.”
–Sophie Borgne, Water and Environment President, Schneider Electric.
Open software-defined automation and secure-by-design technological architectures are leading the charge in helping water organizations maintain continuous service, optimize plant and network performance, and equip teams with the data they need to make faster, more informed decisions across the water cycle.
At WEFTEC, the critical technologies and services enabling electrification, automation, and digitalization for water operations will be on full display.
- The newly launched Modicon release advances cybersecurity across the automation architecture, certified to IEC 62443-3-3 Security Level 2 (SL2), with enhanced capabilities including encrypted firmware, network authentication, and role-based access control. Together, these enhancements help strengthen the cyber resilience of Modicon M580 CPUs, related communication cards, and Modicon Ethernet switches while unleashing the cybersecurity capabilities of the Distributed I/O platform.
- Cybersecurity solutions, which provide OT security assessments, cybersecurity program and policy development, and managed security services with continuous monitoring, threat detection, and response.
- EcoStructure Automation Expert, which offers flexible, open software-defined automation for efficient plant upgrades and operations.
- TeSys Tera, which provides motor protection, control, and monitoring to help reduce equipment failures, energy costs, and asset wear.
- An Altivar Process Low Harmonic Drive, which supports fluid-handling applications such as pumping, aeration, and dosing, with real-time intelligence and automated diagnostics.
- Ecostructure Water Advisor, which is water management software covering the complete water cycle through connected data and predictive analytics for smarter decisions.
- AVEVA CONNECT, which integrates organizational data, applications, and systems into a centralized environment to achieve fast, reliable integration and enable quicker, data-driven decisions.
The partner ecosystem is critical to Schneider Electric’s work in the water sector. CITI, Inc., a Charlotte, North Carolina-based Vessco Water Platform Partner specializing in industrial automation and control systems integration, has achieved Alliance Master status, the highest system integrator tier in Schneider Electric’s Alliance Partner Program for Industrial Automation. The designation recognizes CITI’s technical expertise, project delivery, and commitment to Schneider Electric technologies. It also strengthens collaboration to help water and industrial customers modernize aging control systems, improve operational visibility, and move toward open, interoperable automation architectures. CITI provides control systems integration, PLC and SCADA software development, and in-house UL-certified control panel construction for water and wastewater, industrial, and municipal applications across the Southeastern United States.
Throughout the event, Schneider Electric will also be available to discuss the tech, partnerships and projects designed to improve water and wastewater efficiency, reliability and resilience.
