When the alarm sounded, the map went quiet...

At 02:17, an operator saw pressure drop on a district valve. SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) lit up first. Minutes later, a field tech radioed that the “as‑built” for last year’s replacement main didn’t match what he was standing on.

The GIS showed a closed valve; SCADA said it was open. Sensor logs hinted at a transient upstream. Three truths across three systems, but no shared reality. The crew waited while a coordinator exported, reprojected, reconciled, and re‑imported data. The water kept running.

That moment (when time matters and silos do not) captures the heart of the utility data problem. We’ve invested heavily in good systems: GIS, SCADA, work management, AMI, mobile inspection, modeling. Each is excellent at its job, but silos break integrity. They create parallel definitions of the same assets, out‑of‑date topology, and ungoverned changes that slowly erode confidence.

The answer isn’t another storage layer … it’s governance and integration that turn many systems into one trusted Utility Network.

The Governance Stack: Metadata, Rules, and Change Control

A strong data governance framework for utilities has three pillars:

  1. Metadata that means something. Every dataset needs clear lineage (source, vintage, owner), semantics (field definitions, domains, units), and spatial/temporal scope. If you can’t tell where a valve’s “status” came from (design vs. SCADA state vs. last inspection), you can’t trust it.
  2. Rules codified as executable logic. Data quality policies must be more than PDFs. They should exist as testable, versioned business rules – connectivity constraints, permitted value domains, network tracing prerequisites, geometric tolerances, and cross‑system consistency checks.
  3. Change control across systems. When a work order closes or a new sensor is commissioned, the change shouldn’t land in GIS alone. It should pass an automated review (pre‑flight), be applied to the Utility Network as a versioned change, and propagate to dependent systems with auditability.

Unifying the Silos: From Disparate Feeds to a Single Network

Utilities juggle as‑builts (CAD/BIM), SCADA points, sensor logs, work orders, and modeling outputs. Unification isn’t just about ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) but harmonizing meaning:

  • Schema mapping & normalization. Align field names, domains, and units (psi vs. kPa, inches vs. mm). Enforce global IDs so the same physical valve has one identity across GIS, SCADA, and maintenance.
  • Spatial reconciliation. Snap assets to network centerlines within tolerance, enforce geometry rules (no dangling mains in pressurized networks, no orphan phase conductors), and resolve coordinate reference inconsistencies.
  • Temporal alignment. Treat changes as events with effective dates; resolve “who wins” when sensor state conflicts with as‑built intent, based on recency, authority, or explicit exception policies.
  • Network semantics. Validate connectivity and containment in the Utility Network model (e.g., valves in correct pressure zones, devices connected to the right phase, structures containing expected equipment).

How 1Spatial Applies Rules at Enterprise Scale

This is where 1Spatial’s approach (and similar rule‑driven platforms) earns its keep: apply business rules automatically across multiple datasets to reconcile differences and publish a unified, trusted network.

  • Rules as logic. With engines like 1Integrate and submission portals such as 1Data Gateway, you capture quality policies once – “valves must snap within 0.2 ft of the pipe they control,” “SCADA state must match GIS status within 10 minutes unless flagged for maintenance,” “all mains crossing pressure zones require a regulator or closed device” – and execute them consistently across incoming CAD, field edits, IoT logs, and enterprise GIS.
  • Version‑aware integration. Run validations on proposed changes (design, as‑built, redlines) before they land in production, so expensive rework never makes it to the live network.
  • Audit and lineage. Every change and every rule outcome is tracked – who changed what, when, why, and by which rule – supporting compliance and root‑cause analysis.
  • The net effect: fewer midnight reconciliations, faster as‑built acceptance, and a Utility Network that actually reflects the system you operate.

What “Good” Looks Like 

  • A single canonical network in GIS, continuously validated and enriched by rules that span SCADA, AMI, OMS/DMS/ADMS, and EAM.
  • DataOps for geospatial, with CI/CD pipelines that test every change against your rule suite before deployment.
  • Federated ownership, where engineering, operations, and IT contribute through governed portals, and stewards resolve exceptions with full context.
  • Transparent contracts, where integration logic is declarative and testable – no opaque scripts living on one server under one person’s desk.

Take It for a Test Drive

Ready to unify your network with confidence? Automate data validation, enforce governance, and eliminate manual reconciliation with 1Integrate and 1Data Gateway. Request a demo today.