Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition or SCADA has been a valued technology since its inception in the 1960's. Its use has been mainly in the industrial and manufacturing sectors but it is now being used more by municipalities for monitoring, control and alarming of municipal water systems. This paper presents the planning concepts for the design of SCADA for municipal water systems. The communications options of radio verses telephone are examined. The SCADA operating system, software and hardware are described. Examples of SCADA water systems implemented in three Canadian municipalities are provided.