diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.SiteRuntime/Persistence/SiteStorageService.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.SiteRuntime/Persistence/SiteStorageService.cs
index de559034..7391a057 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.SiteRuntime/Persistence/SiteStorageService.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.SiteRuntime/Persistence/SiteStorageService.cs
@@ -20,15 +20,32 @@ public class SiteStorageService
     /// <param name="logger">Logger instance for diagnostic messages.</param>
     public SiteStorageService(string connectionString, ILogger<SiteStorageService> logger)
     {
-        _connectionString = connectionString;
+        // Normalize the connection string and pin a busy-timeout floor (S8). WAL lets a reader
+        // and a writer proceed concurrently, but two writers still contend; Microsoft.Data.Sqlite
+        // drives its busy handler off the command timeout, so a floor of 5 s means a briefly
+        // busy database is waited-on rather than failing fast with SQLITE_BUSY. Only raise a
+        // caller-supplied value that is lower than the floor (the library default of 30 s stays).
+        var builder = new SqliteConnectionStringBuilder(connectionString);
+        if (builder.DefaultTimeout < BusyTimeoutFloorSeconds)
+            builder.DefaultTimeout = BusyTimeoutFloorSeconds;
+        _connectionString = builder.ToString();
         _logger = logger;
     }
 
+    /// <summary>Busy-timeout floor in seconds applied to the site connection string (S8).</summary>
+    private const int BusyTimeoutFloorSeconds = 5;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Creates a new (unopened) SQLite connection against the site database.
     /// Exposed so site-local repositories can open their own connections without
     /// reaching into private state via reflection. The caller owns
     /// the connection and is responsible for opening and disposing it.
+    /// <para>
+    /// The database runs in WAL journal mode (set once in <see cref="InitializeAsync"/>) with a
+    /// busy-timeout floor (see the constructor), so connections handed out here inherit
+    /// concurrent-reader/writer behavior and wait out a briefly-busy database instead of
+    /// failing with SQLITE_BUSY.
+    /// </para>
     /// </summary>
     /// <returns>A new, unopened <see cref="SqliteConnection"/> against the site database.</returns>
     public SqliteConnection CreateConnection() => new(_connectionString);
@@ -43,6 +60,21 @@ public class SiteStorageService
         await using var connection = new SqliteConnection(_connectionString);
         await connection.OpenAsync();
 
+        // Switch to WAL journal mode (S8). WAL is persistent (database-level, survives across
+        // connections) so this one-time set is enough. It lets readers and a writer proceed
+        // concurrently instead of every access serializing on the rollback journal. A
+        // :memory: database or a filesystem that cannot support WAL falls back to its prior
+        // mode — we log the result rather than throwing.
+        await using (var walCommand = connection.CreateCommand())
+        {
+            walCommand.CommandText = "PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;";
+            var resultingMode = (await walCommand.ExecuteScalarAsync()) as string ?? "unknown";
+            if (!string.Equals(resultingMode, "wal", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                _logger.LogWarning(
+                    "Site SQLite could not enable WAL journal mode (got '{Mode}') — concurrent access may serialize",
+                    resultingMode);
+        }
+
         await using var command = connection.CreateCommand();
         command.CommandText = @"
             CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS deployed_configurations (
diff --git a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.SiteRuntime.Tests/Persistence/SiteStorageServiceTests.cs b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.SiteRuntime.Tests/Persistence/SiteStorageServiceTests.cs
index 8adcb42d..549a73ad 100644
--- a/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.SiteRuntime.Tests/Persistence/SiteStorageServiceTests.cs
+++ b/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.ScadaBridge.SiteRuntime.Tests/Persistence/SiteStorageServiceTests.cs
@@ -42,6 +42,19 @@ public class SiteStorageServiceTests : IAsyncLifetime, IDisposable
         await _storage.InitializeAsync();
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Initialize_EnablesWalJournalMode()
+    {
+        // WAL is set once at InitializeAsync (persistent, database-level). A file-backed DB
+        // is required — WAL is not available for :memory: databases.
+        await using var conn = _storage.CreateConnection();
+        await conn.OpenAsync();
+        await using var cmd = conn.CreateCommand();
+        cmd.CommandText = "PRAGMA journal_mode;";
+        var mode = (string)(await cmd.ExecuteScalarAsync())!;
+        Assert.Equal("wal", mode.ToLowerInvariant());
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public async Task StoreAndRetrieve_DeployedConfig_RoundTrips()
     {