Schneider Electric, its industrial software subsidiary AVEVA and strategic alliance partner 4Sight OT Automation are helping South African wastewater treatment specialist, Calcamite, accelerate the digital transformation of its modular wastewater treatment plants through a scalable edge-to-cloud automation solution.
Testament to the success of the solution is Gourikwa Coastal Nature Reserve, situated within the UNESCO-recognised Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve, which served as the first deployment site. The pilot implementation demonstrated the value of Schneider Electric’s software-defined automation architecture and AVEVA Connect-based monitoring environment, and subsequently won the 2026 AVEVA Sustainable Impact Award.
Calcamite, owned by JoJo Tanks, is now expanding the innovation across its growing network of modular wastewater treatment plants. More than five sites have already been connected in less than six months by 4Sight, with approximately 30 plants expected to be online by the end 2026, and around 100 anticipated by the end of 2027.
From manual monitoring to intelligent operations
Calcamite’s modular wastewater treatment plants are designed for a wide range of locations, often remote, including game lodges, farms, residential estates, shopping centres and industrial facilities. The plants enable wastewater to be safely treated at source before being returned to the environment or reused for applications such as irrigation. As demand for decentralised water treatment continues to grow, the company recognised the opportunity to complement its treatment technology with intelligent automation and remote visibility.
To support this new phase, 4Sight developed and implemented a scalable digital automation platform built on Schneider Electric’s open, software-defined industrial automation system, EcoStruxure Automation Expert. The initial pilot used AVEVA Connect as the cloud monitoring and visualisation platform to validate the concept. Building on that success, the broader rollout has evolved into a cloud-based monitoring and analytics architecture designed to support large-scale deployment across Calcamite’s growing fleet of wastewater treatment facilities.
The solution replaced traditional manual controls with modern software-defined automation, which now allows Calcamite to:
• Remotely monitor plant performance
• Proactively schedule maintenance
• Analyse operational trends
• Rapidly onboard new installations using a standardised digital architecture
“The real value of this solution lies in its scalability. We proved the concept at Gourikwa using Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Automation Expert together with AVEVA Connect as the pilot monitoring platform. That successful implementation gave us the confidence to standardise the architecture and create a scalable cloud-based monitoring solution that can now be deployed quickly and consistently across Calcamite’s growing fleet,” says Danie Badenhorst, managing director, OT Automation at 4Sight OT Automation.
Each installation follows the same proven software architecture which means that engineering time is significantly reduced while maintaining consistent operational performance across every site. The solution also creates the opportunity to retrofit Calcamite’s existing installed base of more than 2000 wastewater treatment plants across southern Africa.
Advanced monitoring and reliability
The edge-to-cloud solution provides Calcamite with continuous insight into plant operations regardless of location. Operational teams can monitor equipment remotely, receive real-time alerts, identify maintenance requirements before failures occur, and validate plant performance using live operational data. In addition to providing deep operational visibility, the platform has been architected to support future AI and advanced analytics initiatives. By consolidating telemetry, operational events and performance data into a structured cloud-based environment, Calcamite now has access to high-quality, AI-ready data that can be used to generate operational insights, management reports and performance analysis.
The successful Gourikwa pilot established the digital foundation required for these future capabilities. As the solution scales across the broader wastewater fleet, the platform can be progressively enhanced with AI services, advanced analytics and intelligent operational assistants to further improve decision making, maintenance planning and operational efficiency. Today, Calcamite already benefits from AI-ready data extracts that support reporting and operational analysis workflows. Future phases may incorporate AI agents and advanced analytics directly into the platform architecture, enabling automated interpretation of plant performance, anomaly detection, predictive maintenance recommendations and natural-language interaction with operational data.
The increased visibility also enables Calcamite to better understand how each plant is performing under varying operating conditions. By analysing inflow volumes and performance trends over time, the company can optimise future plant designs while ensuring existing installations continue to operate at peak efficiency. The solution also enables Calcamite to evolve its customer offering beyond equipment supply by introducing proactive monitoring and maintenance services that improve reliability while giving customers greater confidence in long-term plant performance.
“Our plants are often installed in very remote locations across southern Africa, including neighbouring countries where access can be challenging,” says Sebasti Badenhorst, chief executive officer of Calcamite. “Reliability is absolutely critical because these facilities must continue operating every day. The success we have achieved at Gourikwa has demonstrated just how stable and dependable this solution is, giving us complete confidence as we expand it across hundreds of additional sites. It also enables us to provide our customers with a completely new level of service and operational assurance.”
Driving sustainable water management
The edge-to-cloud solution offers benefits beyond operational efficiency, delivering measurable environmental gains:
• Continuous monitoring ensures wastewater treatment plants operate consistently and effectively, protecting surrounding ecosystems while enabling treated water to be safely reused for irrigation and other non-potable applications.
• Localised treatment of wastewater close to its source reduces dependence on centralised infrastructure, supports more efficient water management and contributes to broader sustainability objectives.
“This project demonstrates how digital innovation can help solve real-world sustainability challenges while creating tangible business value,” says Canninah Dladla, cluster president for sub-Saharan Africa at Schneider Electric. “Calcamite is now benefiting from a scalable digital platform that is transforming how distributed wastewater treatment plants are managed. From one award-winning implementation, the solution is now scaling rapidly across southern Africa, demonstrating how software-defined automation can support both sustainable growth and long-term operational resilience.”
With hundreds of new installations planned and opportunities to modernise existing plants, the partnership between Schneider Electric, 4Sight, Calcamite and AVEVA demonstrates how successful pilot innovation can evolve into scalable operational solutions. The award-winning Gourikwa pilot established the foundation for a broader Schneider Electric
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