最近的环境需求对市政供水系统的资源造成了压力。小型系统（本文定义为小于10mgd的系统）受到的打击最大。在预算减少的情况下，需要更好地控制和生成报告，这使许多小型系统陷入了困境。许多试图实现自动化的工厂现在发现自己拥有需要专家维护的设备。由于负担不起这些系统的更高成本，这些小城市中的许多正在恢复手动操作。本文的目的是展示自动化的未来趋势将如何使小型市政系统受益。

Recent environmental demands have put a strain on the resources of municipal water systems. Small systems (for this paper defined as systems less than 10 MGD) have been hardest hit. The need for better control and report generation in the face of reduced budgets have placed many of these small systems in a difficult position. Many of the plants which have attempted automation now find themselves in possession of equipment which require specialist to maintain. Unable to afford the higher cost of these systems many of these small municipalities are reverting back to manual operation. The purpose of this paper is to show how future trends in automation will benefit the small municipal system.