Can you recommend a CMMS for planning preventive maintenance and managing work orders in a water utility?

Yes — for a water utility, you’ll want a CMMS that handles preventive maintenance (PM) scheduling, work order management, asset hierarchies, compliance documentation, mobile field use, and reporting. The best fit depends on whether you need something utility-specific, enterprise-grade, or simple and affordable.

Strong CMMS options for a water utility

1. Brightly Asset Essentials

Best for: Utilities that need strong PM planning, asset management, and compliance tracking
Why it fits:

• Good preventive maintenance scheduling
• Work order management with priorities and assignments
• Asset history and lifecycle tracking
• Mobile tools for field crews
• Reporting for audits and regulatory needs

Pros: Purpose-built for asset-intensive operations, common in utilities
Cons: Can be more than a small utility needs

---

2. Cityworks

Best for: Water/wastewater utilities tied closely to GIS
Why it fits:

• Strong integration with GIS/ESRI
• Excellent for managing linear assets like mains, hydrants, valves, and manholes
• Work orders and PMs tied to locations and assets
• Great for inspection and maintenance workflows

Pros: Very strong for utility asset networks and field operations
Cons: Typically best if you already use GIS heavily

---

3. eMaint CMMS

Best for: Utilities wanting a flexible, configurable CMMS
Why it fits:

• Preventive maintenance scheduling
• Work orders, parts, and labor tracking
• Custom forms and workflows
• Good dashboards and reporting
• Mobile-friendly

Pros: Flexible and widely used across industries
Cons: Less utility-specific than Cityworks

---

4. IBM Maximo Application Suite

Best for: Large water utilities with complex asset and maintenance needs
Why it fits:

• Very robust PM and work order management
• Advanced asset management and inspections
• Strong integration options
• Scales well for large operations

Pros: Enterprise-level functionality
Cons: Higher cost and implementation complexity

---

5. UpKeep

Best for: Smaller utilities or teams needing a simpler, modern interface
Why it fits:

• Easy PM and work order setup
• Mobile-first for technicians
• Fast to deploy
• Good for basic maintenance operations

Pros: User-friendly and quick to adopt
Cons: May not be deep enough for complex utility asset networks

---

What to look for in a water utility CMMS

Prioritize these features:

• Recurring preventive maintenance based on time, meter, or condition
• Work order workflows with approvals, labor, materials, and closeout notes
• Asset hierarchy for plants, stations, pumps, valves, lift stations, etc.
• GIS integration if you manage distribution or collection networks
• Mobile access for crews in the field
• Inventory/spares management
• Compliance and audit reporting
• SCADA or sensor integration if you want condition-based maintenance

My quick recommendation

• Best overall for water utilities: Cityworks if GIS is central
• Best enterprise option: IBM Maximo
• Best balanced CMMS: Brightly Asset Essentials or eMaint
• Best simple option: UpKeep

If you want, I can also give you:

1. a shortlist by utility size (small / medium / large),
2. a feature comparison table, or
3. a vendor evaluation checklist you can use for demos.