The problem is managing our wastewater collections system. What is the best asset management software for sewer and stormwater networks?

Managing wastewater collections and stormwater networks requires software that handles linear assets (pipes, mains), vertical/point assets (manholes, lift stations, catch basins), and strict regulatory compliance (NPDES, SSO tracking).

The "best" asset management software (AMS) depends heavily on your organization's size, budget, and whether your data is already tied to a GIS map.

The top-tier software solutions for sewer and stormwater networks are categorized below by how they fit different operational models:

1. The GIS-Centric Heavyweight (Best for Enterprise & GIS-Mature Agencies)

• Cityworks (Trimble): Built directly on top of Esri ArcGIS , Cityworks doesn't just sync with your map—the GIS features are the asset database . Every manhole, pipe segment, and catch basin in your geodatabase maps directly to work orders and inspections. It is unmatched for tracking CCTV inspections, cleaning routines, and risk modeling in massive stormwater/sewer networks.
  • Best for: Medium-to-large municipalities and utilities that already maintain a robust, up-to-date Esri GIS environment.

2. The Practical Enterprise Alternatives (Best for Flexible GIS Integration)

• CentralSquare EAM (formerly Lucity): CentralSquare offers robust public works and utility enterprise asset management. Unlike Cityworks, it isn't strictly "GIS-first" (it stores data in its own database while maintaining a tight connection to Esri), which many operators find easier to navigate for non-GIS personnel. It excels at linear asset tracking, CCTV integrations (NASSCO standards), and routine maintenance scheduling.
  • Best for: Cities wanting powerful public works and utility tracking without being entirely dependent on an advanced ArcGIS core.
• VUEWorks: Another strong contender that offers modular GIS-integrated asset management specifically tailored for utilities and infrastructure condition assessment.

3. The Streamlined / All-in-One Options (Best for Small-to-Midsize Utilities)

• Ziptility: A modern, mobile-friendly platform designed specifically so field crews can log jetting, manhole inspections, and CCTV runs right from the truck. It models both the treatment plant and the collection system on a single living map and is typically priced by connections rather than per-seat licensing.
  • Best for: Smaller wastewater districts and towns that need an intuitive app that works seamlessly in the field without heavy IT overhead.
• SMART360: Focuses heavily on unifying water/wastewater operations with built-in compliance documentation for Clean Water Act and NPDES permits.

4. Advanced Hydraulic & Engineering Modeling (Best for Capital Planning)

• Bentley OpenFlows SewerGEMS: If your definition of asset management includes heavy hydraulic and hydrology modeling to predict capacity, overflows, and system stress during major storm events, SewerGEMS is the industry standard for engineering analysis.
  • Best for: Engineers and utility planners running complex simulations on combined or sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs).[1]

To help narrow down the best fit for your team, tell me:

• What is the approximate size of your system (pipe miles or number of connections)?
• Are you already using Esri ArcGIS or a formal GIS mapping system?
• Is your biggest pain point daily work orders/field maintenance or regulatory compliance and capital planning?

For a municipal wastewater/stormwater collection system, Trimble Cityworks is the first platform I’d evaluate—especially if you already use Esri ArcGIS. It is GIS-centric and supports sewer/stormwater assets, inspections, work orders, service requests, and maintenance workflows.

Also shortlist:

• Autodesk InfoAsset Manager — particularly strong for sewer-network asset data, condition/risk analysis, and integrating GIS, hydraulic models, and CMMS.
• IBM Maximo — worth considering for a large, complex utility needing enterprise-wide EAM.

The key distinction: Cityworks is strongest as GIS-centered operational asset/work management; InfoAsset is stronger for network-specific planning/condition/risk analysis.

There is no single “best” wastewater collection asset management software for every utility. The right choice depends on your system size, GIS environment, inspection practices (CCTV/PACP), work-order needs, regulatory reporting, and whether you need maintenance management or a full enterprise asset management (EAM) program. EPA guidance emphasizes that utilities should evaluate integration with GIS, CMMS/work orders, condition assessment, risk analytics, reporting, and capital planning rather than choosing on features alone.

For a sewer and stormwater network, these are among the leading platforms to evaluate:

My shortlist by utility type

If you manage a city/county sewer collection system with GIS already in place:

1. Cityworks
2. Autodesk InfoAsset Manager
3. OpenGov Wastewater Collection

If you need a full enterprise asset management program across sewer, stormwater, facilities, fleet, and treatment plants:

1. IBM Maximo
2. Autodesk InfoAsset Manager
3. Cityworks

If your biggest problem is “we have lots of CCTV/inspection data but don’t know what to rehabilitate first”:

1. Jacobs Argon
2. Autodesk InfoAsset Manager
3. A GIS-based platform with risk modeling

Features I would require in an RFP

For a sewer/stormwater network, I would not select a system unless it can handle:

• Pipe, manhole, lift station, pump, outfall, and stormwater structure inventories
• GIS map-based asset management
• CCTV/PACP inspection data import
• Condition scoring and deterioration modeling
• Risk ranking (likelihood × consequence of failure)
• Preventive maintenance scheduling
• Mobile field inspections with photos/GPS
• Work orders and crew tracking
• SSO/CSO event documentation
• Capital improvement planning and rehabilitation prioritization
• Integration with your existing GIS and CMMS systems

A few questions would narrow this down considerably:

1. How large is your collection system (miles of sewer, number of lift stations, number of stormwater assets)?
2. Are you using Esri ArcGIS already?
3. Is your main pain point maintenance/work orders, CCTV inspection management, SSO reduction, or capital rehab planning?
4. Are you a municipal utility, private utility, or regional authority?

Managing a wastewater collection and stormwater network requires software that excels at handling linear assets (pipes, mains, ditches) and vertical assets (lift stations, pumps, manholes, control valves), while integrating seamlessly with spatial mapping and work orders.

The "best" software depends heavily on your organization's size, budget, and whether your data is already tied to a Geographic Information System (GIS). Industry consensus points to several top-tier solutions categorized by their strengths:

• Cityworks (by Trimble): Best GIS-Centric / Esri Integration
  • Core Strength: Built natively on Esri ArcGIS. Your assets aren't just synced from GIS—the GIS is the database. If your utility relies heavily on spatial mapping for manholes, gravity mains, and stormwater basins, Cityworks is widely considered the gold standard.
  • Ideal for: Municipalities and utilities that already maintain a robust, clean Esri GIS environment.
• Lucity (by CentralSquare): Best for Public Works & Linear Asset Depth
  • Core Strength: Deeply integrated with Esri but functions as a comprehensive enterprise suite covering sewer, stormwater, streets, and permits. It handles CCTV inspection data (NASSCO standards for PACP/MACCP) very cleanly.
  • Ideal for: Medium-to-large cities or county public works managing multi-departmental infrastructure.
• Cartgraph: Best for Operations, Capital Planning, and Ease of Use
  • Core Strength: Known for a modern, intuitive interface and strong predictive capabilities. It helps model "what-if" scenarios for capital improvement planning, budgeting, and tracking the remaining useful life of stormwater and sewer assets.
  • Ideal for: Teams that find heavy enterprise systems too clunky and want powerful visual analytics without a steep learning curve.
• IBM Maximo Application Suite: Best for Heavy Industrial / Large Utilities
  • Core Strength: The premier, AI-powered Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) platform for massive, highly complex asset portfolios. Unmatched for predictive maintenance, SCADA/IoT integration, and complex vertical treatment plants/pump stations.
  • Ideal for: Very large regional sewer districts, metropolitan water authorities, or investor-owned utilities. Note: It can be over-engineered and costly for smaller municipal operations.
• Infor EAM (now HxGN EAM / Hexagon): Best Mid-to-Large Enterprise Alternative
  • Core Strength: Strong linear asset functionality, robust work-order management, and utility-specific configurations that deploy faster than Maximo while scaling into heavy enterprise territory.

To help narrow down the ideal platform for your system, let me know:

• What is the approximate size of your network (mileage of pipe or number of lift stations)?
• Do you currently use Esri ArcGIS or another specific GIS platform?
• Are you looking primarily for a CMMS (work orders and maintenance) or a full EAM (capital planning and asset lifecycle)?

Managing a wastewater collection and stormwater network requires software that bridges spatial mapping (GIS), work/maintenance management (CMMS) , and condition assessment (PACP/MACP standards) . Because underground linear assets (pipes, manholes, catch basins) differ vastly from vertical plant equipment, general-purpose plant maintenance software usually falls short.

The top-tier asset management solutions specifically built or heavily optimized for sewer and stormwater collection networks include:

• Cityworks (by Trimble / Esri ArcGIS-Centric): Widely considered the gold standard for GIS-centric public works. Because it is built natively on the Esri ArcGIS platform, every pipe, manhole, and inlet is tied directly to spatial data. It excels at work orders, service requests, risk modeling, and capital planning for linear infrastructure.
• Lucity (by CentralSquare): A robust enterprise asset management (EAM) suite widely used by municipalities for water, wastewater, and stormwater. It features deep GIS integration, excellent CCTV inspection importing (NASSCO PACP/MACP compliance), and straightforward preventive maintenance scheduling for collection systems.
• Infor Public Sector (EAM): Highly scalable enterprise-grade software designed for larger cities and regional utilities. It combines asset registry, advanced work management, and budgeting tools, making it strong for high-volume stormwater MS4 compliance tracking and complex sewer network hierarchies.
• iWorQ: A popular, lighter cloud-based solution ideal for smaller- to mid-sized municipalities and districts. It offers practical modules for tracking stormwater inspections, sewer cleaning/flushing work orders, and citizen service requests without the steep implementation curve of massive enterprise frameworks.
• Novotx (Raintree): Specifically built with a strong emphasis on stormwater and public works operations, offering robust MS4 compliance tracking, permit management, and tight GIS mapping from inlet to outlet.

To help narrow down the ideal platform for your agency, tell me:

• What is the approximate size of your network (mileage of pipe or population served)?
• Do you currently use Esri ArcGIS as your primary mapping database?
• Are you primarily looking to solve day-to-day work orders/maintenance or long-term capital planning and regulatory compliance (like MS4/NASSCO)?

If the problem is **managing a wastewater collection system—sewer pipes, manholes, lift stations, pumps, inspections, cleaning, blockages, CCTV, work orders, condition, risk, and capital planning—**I would put GIS-centered asset management at the top of the list rather than choosing a generic CMMS.

My shortlist

1. My first choice: ArcGIS-based system

For sewer and stormwater networks specifically, I'd start with Esri ArcGIS Utility Network. Esri has purpose-built Sewer Utility Network Foundation, Stormwater Utility Network Foundation, and Combined Sewer configurations, rather than forcing a generic asset database onto a spatial network.

That matters because your assets aren't just individual pieces of equipment. You have a connected network:

manhole → gravity main → manhole → interceptor → pump station → force main → treatment plant You want to understand connectivity, upstream/downstream relationships, contributing areas, overflow risk, inspection history, and what happens when an asset fails.

ArcGIS also provides dedicated sewer and stormwater data-management workflows, field collection, inspection capabilities, dashboards, and network analysis.

I'd use ArcGIS as the authoritative spatial asset/network database, then integrate it with the work-management/EAM system for maintenance.

2. Cityworks / Trimble Unity Maintain

If you're a municipality that already has—or wants—Esri GIS, Cityworks is probably the first product I'd evaluate alongside ArcGIS.

It's particularly good at turning the GIS asset into an operational workflow:

• work orders
• preventive maintenance
• inspections
• sewer cleaning
• manhole inspections
• CCTV findings
• service requests
• crew/mobile workflows
• labor/material tracking
• asset history
• capital planning

The important distinction is that ArcGIS models the network, while the asset/work-management layer manages much of the day-to-day work performed on that network.

3. Maximo

I'd seriously consider IBM Maximo if you're a large utility with a complicated organization and substantial vertical assets—pump stations, generators, HVAC, electrical equipment, treatment facilities, vehicles, etc.—in addition to the collection system.

It's extremely capable, but I'd be cautious about making Maximo the only system for the sewer/stormwater network. A GIS/network platform is generally better suited to answering spatial/network questions.

4. OpenGov Enterprise Asset Management / Cartegraph

This is worth looking at if you're a smaller or mid-sized municipality and don't want the implementation complexity of a large enterprise EAM.

It's particularly attractive when your organization needs to manage public works + stormwater + wastewater + streets + other municipal assets in a relatively unified system.

The architecture I'd recommend

Rather than asking "What's the best sewer asset-management software?", I'd frame the procurement as:

GIS/network system → Asset/work management → Field mobility → CCTV/inspection system → SCADA → CMMS/EAM → Financial/capital planning

For example:

ArcGIS Utility Network ↓ Cityworks / Unity Maintain ↓ Mobile crews + inspections + work orders ↓ CCTV / PACP condition data ↓ SCADA / lift-station alarms ↓ Risk + condition + consequence ↓ Capital improvement prioritization

That architecture gives you something much more valuable than a simple list of assets: a living digital model of the collection system tied directly to maintenance and investment decisions. Esri specifically describes its water asset-management approach around performance, risk, resources, costs, network relationships, and field/mobile access.

One important distinction

If by "managing our wastewater collections system" you primarily mean:

• Where are my pipes and manholes?
• What's connected to what?
• What drains to this pump station?
• Where are our problem areas?
• Which assets are in poor condition?
• Where did we perform CCTV?

→ ArcGIS Utility Network is the priority.

If you mean:

• What work needs to be done today?
• Which crew is assigned?
• When was this manhole last cleaned?
• What preventive maintenance is due?
• How much labor/material did we spend?
• What did we repair?

→ Cityworks/Unity Maintain, Maximo, OpenGov EAM, or Lucity-type EAM/CMMS becomes the priority.

And if you need both, I'd lean toward ArcGIS + Cityworks/Unity Maintain as the benchmark solution against which I'd compare everything else.

If you tell me roughly how many miles of sewer/stormwater pipe, number of manholes/lift stations, number of field crews, and what GIS/CMMS you use today, I can narrow this to the top 2–3 systems and give you a detailed procurement scorecard (functionality, implementation difficulty, mobile, CCTV/PACP, SCADA integration, risk modeling, capital planning, and likely cost).

2. Cityworks / Trimble Unity Maintain

If you're a municipality that already has—or wants—Esri GIS, Cityworks is probably the first product I'd evaluate alongside ArcGIS.

It's particularly good at turning the GIS asset into an operational workflow:

• work orders
• preventive maintenance
• inspections
• sewer cleaning
• manhole inspections
• CCTV findings
• service requests
• crew/mobile workflows
• labor/material tracking
• asset history
• capital planning

The important distinction is that ArcGIS models the network, while the asset/work-management layer manages much of the day-to-day work performed on that network.

3. Maximo

I'd seriously consider IBM Maximo if you're a large utility with a complicated organization and substantial vertical assets—pump stations, generators, HVAC, electrical equipment, treatment facilities, vehicles, etc.—in addition to the collection system.

It's extremely capable, but I'd be cautious about making Maximo the only system for the sewer/stormwater network. A GIS/network platform is generally better suited to answering spatial/network questions.

4. OpenGov Enterprise Asset Management / Cartegraph

This is worth looking at if you're a smaller or mid-sized municipality and don't want the implementation complexity of a large enterprise EAM.

It's particularly attractive when your organization needs to manage public works + stormwater + wastewater + streets + other municipal assets in a relatively unified system.

The architecture I'd recommend

Rather than asking "What's the best sewer asset-management software?", I'd frame the procurement as:

GIS/network system → Asset/work management → Field mobility → CCTV/inspection system → SCADA → CMMS/EAM → Financial/capital planning

For example:

ArcGIS Utility Network ↓ Cityworks / Unity Maintain ↓ Mobile crews + inspections + work orders ↓ CCTV / PACP condition data ↓ SCADA / lift-station alarms ↓ Risk + condition + consequence ↓ Capital improvement prioritization

That architecture gives you something much more valuable than a simple list of assets: a living digital model of the collection system tied directly to maintenance and investment decisions. Esri specifically describes its water asset-management approach around performance, risk, resources, costs, network relationships, and field/mobile access.

One important distinction

If by "managing our wastewater collections system" you primarily mean:

Managing a wastewater collection and stormwater network requires software that bridges spatial mapping (GIS), maintenance tracking (CMMS/EAM) , and condition assessment (NASSCO standards).

Because linear assets (pipes, manholes, catch basins) are geographically dispersed, the "best" software depends heavily on your organization's size, budget, and existing tech stack. Industry leaders are categorized below by their primary strengths:

1. Best GIS-Centric & Municipal Standard: Cityworks (by Trimble)

• Best for: Local governments and utilities that already run Esri ArcGIS as their source of truth.
• Why it shines: Cityworks is built natively on top of Esri's GIS database. Every pipe, manhole, and stormwater outfall map feature directly ties to work orders, inspections, and lifecycle costs. It seamlessly handles CCTV inspection data imports (like MACP/PACP for sewer defects) and manages routine cleanings or emergency root-intrusion callouts without data syncing issues.

2. Best Modern Cloud Platform for Public Works: OpenGov Cloud

• Best for: Mid-to-large municipalities and special districts looking for an intuitive, all-in-one cloud suite.
• Why it shines: OpenGov has gained significant traction for modernizing public works and utilities. It offers robust Wastewater Collection and Stormwater Management modules with built-in GIS mapping, mobile work orders for field crews, citizen request integration (311), and financial scenario-building tools for capital improvement planning.

3. Best for Enterprise Scale & Heavy Industry: IBM Maximo / Hexagon EAM

• Best for: Large metropolitan sanitary districts, regional water authorities, or industrial facilities with massive asset hierarchies.
• Why it shines: These enterprise asset management (EAM) giants offer deep linear asset modeling, predictive maintenance via IoT sensor integration, and sophisticated reliability analytics. If your collection system includes complex pump stations, SCADA integration, and treatment components alongside miles of interceptor pipes, Maximo or Hexagon provides unmatched depth—though at a higher cost and steeper implementation curve.

4. Best Practical, Budget-Friendly Cloud Software: iWorQ

• Best for: Smaller towns, counties, or smaller sanitary districts wanting fast deployment without enterprise bloat.
• Why it shines: iWorQ provides practical, cloud-based asset, work order, and permit management. It is user-friendly, highly cost-effective for smaller staffs, tracks maintenance histories for stormwater/sewer networks effectively, and includes mobile capabilities for field workers.

To help narrow down which platform fits your agency best, let me know:

• What is the approximate size of your network (e.g., miles of pipe or number of assets)?
• Are you already using a specific GIS platform (like Esri) that the new software must integrate with natively?
• Is your primary goal day-to-day work orders/maintenance, or long-term capital planning and compliance?

If your problem is specifically managing a wastewater collection system—sanitary sewer plus stormwater networks—I would put GIS-centric utility asset management ahead of a generic CMMS. You want the software to understand pipes, manholes, pump stations, outfalls, catch basins, inspections, defects, work history, condition, risk, and capital planning as a connected network.

My shortlist

1. Trimble Cityworks — my first choice

For a municipal wastewater collection and stormwater network, this is probably where I'd start.

Cityworks is explicitly built around GIS-based infrastructure management and can manage water, wastewater, stormwater, streets and other distributed infrastructure. It connects assets to work orders, inspections, service requests, tests and reporting.

The big advantage is that your GIS becomes the operational picture:

Pipe → manhole → inspection → defect → work order → repair → cost → condition → risk → capital project

That's a very natural model for sewer collection systems.

It is particularly compelling if you already use Esri ArcGIS. Cityworks is designed to leverage the GIS geodatabase rather than creating a completely separate asset database.

2. Autodesk InfoAsset Manager — best if engineering/modeling matters

I'd look very closely at Autodesk InfoAsset Manager if your organization wants more than work orders.

It is specifically designed for water and wastewater infrastructure assets and can integrate GIS, hydraulic models and CMMS information. It supports network asset data, condition/status reporting and decision-making around maintenance.

This becomes especially interesting if you also use InfoWorks ICM or other hydraulic modeling. Autodesk describes InfoWorks ICM as a high-fidelity storm, sewer and flood modeling platform, while InfoAsset Manager handles the asset-management side.

3. Cartegraph / OpenGov — very strong for operations

Cartegraph has historically been particularly strong for municipal infrastructure maintenance: inspections, preventive maintenance, mobile crews, work orders and asset lifecycle management. Its wastewater/stormwater use cases specifically cover sanitary sewer and stormwater assets.

I'd consider this particularly seriously if the bigger problem is:

"We know what assets we have, but we're struggling to organize inspections, maintenance, crews, costs and long-term replacement decisions." rather than primarily needing sophisticated hydraulic/network analysis.

4. IBM Maximo — powerful, but probably not my first choice

Maximo is excellent if wastewater collection is part of a much larger enterprise asset-management program involving treatment plants, electrical/mechanical equipment, fleet, facilities, inventory, procurement, etc.

For a collection-system-centric deployment, however, I would generally favor Cityworks or InfoAsset Manager because the spatial/network model is more central to the problem.

EPA's asset-management guidance emphasizes exactly the capabilities you'd want to evaluate: asset inventory, work orders, inspections/condition assessment, budgeting/valuation, reporting and risk management.

5. Brightly Asset Essentials — good simpler alternative

Brightly's Asset Essentials is more of a broad CMMS/work-and-asset-management platform. It supports preventive, reactive and predictive work, mobile work, condition surveys, costs and GIS integration.

I'd consider it if you're a smaller organization and ease of deployment and maintenance workflow matter more than having a sophisticated sewer-network asset model.

What I'd choose

If I were evaluating this for a wastewater utility, my initial ranking would be:

1. Cityworks — best overall for GIS-centric sewer/stormwater asset management.
2. Autodesk InfoAsset Manager — best when engineering, condition/risk analysis and hydraulic-model integration are important.
3. Cartegraph/OpenGov — excellent for field operations, maintenance and lifecycle planning.
4. IBM Maximo — strongest enterprise EAM option.
5. Brightly Asset Essentials — good simpler/less infrastructure-specialized option.

The key is not to choose based on the work-order screen. Almost all of these can manage work orders. The differentiator for a sewer collection system is whether the software can turn your GIS + CCTV inspections + condition assessments + maintenance history + hydraulic information + risk + costs into a defensible renewal program.

EPA is increasingly emphasizing asset management for sewer and stormwater collection systems, including its 2026 NPDES asset-management work.

If you tell me (1) approximate miles of sewer, (2) number of manholes/pump stations, (3) whether you use Esri ArcGIS, (4) whether you have CCTV inspection data, and (5) whether your biggest pain is maintenance, inspections, GIS/data quality, or capital planning, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 systems and give you a detailed feature-by-feature comparison.

The big advantage is that your GIS becomes the operational picture:

Pipe → manhole → inspection → defect → work order → repair → cost → condition → risk → capital project

That's a very natural model for sewer collection systems.

It is particularly compelling if you already use Esri ArcGIS. Cityworks is designed to leverage the GIS geodatabase rather than creating a completely separate asset database.

2. Autodesk InfoAsset Manager — best if engineering/modeling matters

I'd look very closely at Autodesk InfoAsset Manager if your organization wants more than work orders.

It is specifically designed for water and wastewater infrastructure assets and can integrate GIS, hydraulic models and CMMS information. It supports network asset data, condition/status reporting and decision-making around maintenance.

This becomes especially interesting if you also use InfoWorks ICM or other hydraulic modeling. Autodesk describes InfoWorks ICM as a high-fidelity storm, sewer and flood modeling platform, while InfoAsset Manager handles the asset-management side.

3. Cartegraph / OpenGov — very strong for operations

Cartegraph has historically been particularly strong for municipal infrastructure maintenance: inspections, preventive maintenance, mobile crews, work orders and asset lifecycle management. Its wastewater/stormwater use cases specifically cover sanitary sewer and stormwater assets.

I'd consider this particularly seriously if the bigger problem is:

"We know what assets we have, but we're struggling to organize inspections, maintenance, crews, costs and long-term replacement decisions." rather than primarily needing sophisticated hydraulic/network analysis.

4. IBM Maximo — powerful, but probably not my first choice

Maximo is excellent if wastewater collection is part of a much larger enterprise asset-management program involving treatment plants, electrical/mechanical equipment, fleet, facilities, inventory, procurement, etc.

For a collection-system-centric deployment, however, I would generally favor Cityworks or InfoAsset Manager because the spatial/network model is more central to the problem.

EPA's asset-management guidance emphasizes exactly the capabilities you'd want to evaluate: asset inventory, work orders, inspections/condition assessment, budgeting/valuation, reporting and risk management.

5. Brightly Asset Essentials — good simpler alternative

Brightly's Asset Essentials is more of a broad CMMS/work-and-asset-management platform. It supports preventive, reactive and predictive work, mobile work, condition surveys, costs and GIS integration.

I'd consider it if you're a smaller organization and ease of deployment and maintenance workflow matter more than having a sophisticated sewer-network asset model.

What I'd choose

If I were evaluating this for a wastewater utility, my initial ranking would be:

Yes. For a wastewater collection system—especially one covering sanitary sewer + stormwater networks—I would put GIS-centric asset management at the top of the list, rather than choosing a generic CMMS.

My shortlist

1. My first choice: Cityworks

For a wastewater collection organization, Cityworks is probably where I'd start.

The important distinction is that Cityworks is GIS-centric. Your manholes, gravity pipes, force mains, pump stations, lift stations, outfalls, catch basins, culverts, etc. can be managed spatially while work orders, inspections, service requests and maintenance history are tied to those assets. Its current Respond application, for example, manages work orders, service requests, inspections and cases alongside a persistent map.

That makes it particularly attractive for questions such as:

• Which sewer assets are overdue for inspection?
• Which pipes have the highest failure risk?
• How many backups have occurred on a particular line?
• What maintenance has been performed on a manhole?
• Which stormwater structures need cleaning?
• Where are recurring problems occurring?
• What should we rehabilitate or replace with next year's capital budget?
• What is the cost and maintenance history of each asset?

Historically, an independent Water Finance Research Foundation comparison also rated Cityworks extremely strongly for asset management, work management and Esri GIS integration—although that study is old enough that I would use it as historical context rather than a current product ranking.

2. ArcGIS Utility Network is extremely important

If your organization is already heavily invested in Esri, I'd seriously consider ArcGIS Utility Network + Cityworks rather than thinking of them as competing products.

ArcGIS Utility Network gives you the underlying network information model: connectivity, assets, flow, tracing, network rules and spatial relationships. Esri specifically provides Utility Network foundations for sewer and stormwater, as well as combined sewer systems.

For wastewater, this can become quite sophisticated. The model can represent things such as collection systems, sewersheds, lift stations and treatment-plant sinks and support wastewater network tracing and analysis.

So I would think of the architecture as:

ArcGIS Utility Network → authoritative network/GIS → Cityworks → maintenance, inspections, work orders, asset management

That's a very powerful combination.

3. Maximo

IBM Maximo is the one I'd put on the shortlist if you're a large utility with a sophisticated enterprise asset-management program.

Maximo is much broader than sewer infrastructure. It handles asset lifecycle management, work orders, mobile work, inventory, scheduling, condition information and enterprise workflows. IBM explicitly supports water/wastewater and describes capabilities for pipelines and other linear assets, GIS integration, field service and risk-based replacement/rehabilitation planning.

The downside is that Maximo can be a lot of software if your primary problem is managing a municipal collection system. You may end up implementing an enterprise EAM when what you really need is excellent GIS-based sewer asset management.

What I would choose

If you told me:

"We have a municipal wastewater collection system and stormwater system, and our biggest problem is knowing what assets we have, their condition, what maintenance they've received, what needs to be done next, and how to prioritize capital spending." I'd evaluate these three first:

1. Cityworks + ArcGIS Utility Network — my preferred architecture 2. ArcGIS Utility Network + Esri's water/stormwater solutions — if GIS/network management is the dominant requirement 3. IBM Maximo — if you need a broader enterprise EAM covering wastewater, treatment plants, fleet, facilities, inventory, purchasing, etc.

The key is that asset management software alone won't solve the problem. For sewer/stormwater, you want the system to connect GIS + asset registry + inspections + condition + risk + work orders + costs + capital planning.

If you tell me roughly the size of your system (miles of sewer/stormwater pipe, number of manholes/catch basins/pump stations), number of field crews, what GIS/CMMS you use today, and whether you're a municipality or private utility, I can give you a much more specific Cityworks vs. Maximo vs. ArcGIS vs. Innovyze comparison, including what I'd implement and why.

Managing a wastewater collection and stormwater network requires software that excels with linear assets (pipes, manholes, catch basins) and integrates tightly with spatial data. Because sewer and storm networks are fundamentally map-driven, the "best" software depends heavily on whether your organization is GIS-centric, operations-centric, or looking for an all-in-one local government suite.

Top-tier asset management software options for sewer and stormwater networks are categorized below by their primary strengths:

• Cityworks (Trimble Unity) — Best for GIS-First / Esri-Centric Operations
  • Why it fits: Cityworks is natively built on Esri's ArcGIS platform. If your utility or municipality already manages its underground infrastructure maps through Esri, Cityworks offers seamless data synchronization without syncing or translating external databases. It handles work orders, inspections (including CCTV pipe ratings), and condition assessment remarkably well. (Note: Trimble is transitioning long-term capabilities into its unified Trimble Unity platform, but the core GIS-first DNA remains).
• OpenGov Cloud Asset Management — Best All-in-One for Local Governments & Utilities
  • Why it fits: OpenGov has become a leading choice for public works and municipal utilities looking to combine work orders, asset registries, GIS mapping, and capital planning into a single cloud ecosystem. It is praised for its modern interface, ease of deployment, and strong budgeting/financial tracking tie-ins.
• Cartegraph — Best for Operations, Analytics, and Long-Range Capital Planning
  • Why it fits: Cartegraph stands out for its robust prioritization and predictive analysis tools. For stormwater and wastewater teams trying to forecast when aging storm mains or sanitary lines will fail—and modeling the financial impact of deferred maintenance—Cartegraph provides powerful operations dashboards and energy/priority scoring.
• Infor Public Sector (EAM) — Best for Heavy-Duty Enterprise Scale
  • Why it fits: If you are managing a massive metropolitan collection system with complex supply chains, heavy equipment tracking, and deep enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrations, Infor EAM offers industrial-strength asset tracking that can scale to millions of linear feet and heavy treatment plant infrastructure.
• iWorQ — Best for Smaller Cities, Towns, and Districts
  • Why it fits: If the enterprise giants feel like overkill or blow past your budget, iWorQ provides practical, cloud-based asset, work order, and permit management that smaller public works departments can implement quickly with minimal friction.

Key Evaluation Criteria for Wastewater & Stormwater:

1. Linear Asset Support: Ensure the platform treats pipes and channels as continuous segments with upstream/downstream connectivity rather than just isolated "points" of equipment.
2. CCTV / NASSCO Compliance: Look for native support or smooth imports for PACP (Pipeline Assessment Certification Program) standards so your internal defect inspections translate cleanly into asset scores.
3. Field Mobility: Crew members need offline-capable mobile map viewing and work-order closure straight from the truck or manhole.

To help narrow down the ideal platform, tell me:

• How large is your network (approximate mileage or population served)?
• What GIS platform (if any) are you currently using in-office and in the field?
• Are you looking strictly for maintenance/work orders , or do you also need capital improvement planning and financial modeling?