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Remote Water Tank Level Monitoring with Dragino for Farms and Facilities
A water tank level is only useful when it leads to a decision. Refill now. Check the pump. Look for a leak. Change the irrigation schedule. Send someone to inspect the site before a small issue becomes a dry trough, an empty header tank or an interrupted process.
That is the real value of remote water tank level monitoring. It turns a hidden or distant water level into a practical signal. For farms, councils, utilities and facilities, it can reduce routine driving, catch abnormal use earlier and make water storage easier to manage across multiple sites.
The hardware choice still matters. A tank is not just a tank. Shape, access, turbulence, internal bracing, outlet height, communications coverage and power all affect what will work in the field. Dragino’s range includes LoRaWAN options such as the LDDS75, along with other devices that suit different sensing and communication needs. The best result comes from matching the sensor to the tank first, then building the dashboard and alarms around the decisions people need to make.
Start with the decision the reading needs to support
A level reading can be shown as a percentage, distance, litres, metres or a simple status such as low, normal or high. Before choosing the format, decide what the reading must trigger.
Common decisions include:
Scheduling a water cart or refill
Checking whether a bore, pump or transfer system has stopped
Detecting unexpected consumption after hours
Comparing usage between paddocks, sheds or buildings
Protecting a pump from running dry
Confirming that a delivery or transfer has arrived
Reducing manual checks on remote tanks
These decisions shape everything else. A stock water tank may only need low-level and missing-data alerts. An industrial facility may need trending, usable volume and integration with other site systems. A rainwater harvesting setup might focus on percentage full and overflow behaviour through wet periods.
Accuracy requirements differ too. For some farm tanks, knowing that the level has fallen from roughly 70 per cent to 30 per cent is enough. For a process tank or dosing application, that may not be precise enough. The sensor, installation and calibration method should match the consequence of a wrong reading.
Choose the sensing method around the tank
The sensor should suit the tank geometry and the water surface. No dashboard can fully fix a poor measurement point.
Ultrasonic sensing suits many closed and open tanks
A non-contact ultrasonic sensor measures the distance from the sensor face to the liquid surface. As the tank fills, that distance usually decreases. The device then converts distance into a level value.
This approach has clear advantages:
No wetted probe in the water
Easier maintenance in many clean-water applications
Useful for tanks where access from the top is available
Suitable for many farm and facility storage tanks
It also needs a suitable installation. The sound pulse needs a clear path to the water surface. Internal braces, ladders, baffles, pipes, narrow necks and tank ribs can reflect the signal. Turbulence can make the surface harder to read. Condensation, foam, vapour or insects near the sensor can also affect measurements.
Mounting height matters. There must be enough separation between the sensor and the highest expected water level. A shallow tank or a tank with a raised internal dome may leave less usable measurement space than expected. Check the device’s minimum and maximum measurement limits before choosing it.
Dragino’s distance and level range includes LoRaWAN devices such as the LDDS75. That makes it a possible fit for many remote tank installations where long-range, low-power communications are needed. Other Dragino models use different sensing or communications arrangements, so the exact model should be chosen only after checking the measurement range, enclosure rating, power method and network requirements.
Pressure sensing can help where top access is difficult
Pressure-based level sensing measures the water pressure caused by the depth above the sensor. It can work well where ultrasonic mounting is not practical, or where tank features interfere with a clear measurement path.
Pressure sensing has its own checks. The sensor is in contact with water, so material suitability and cable protection matter. Sludge, sediment and installation position can affect readings. For vented tanks, atmospheric pressure compensation may also need attention.
Simple switches are useful for hard limits
A float switch or point-level sensor does not provide continuous level. It tells the system when water has reached a set point. That can still be useful.
For example, a low-level switch can protect a pump. A high-level switch can confirm that a tank has filled. In some installations, a continuous sensor and one or two switches work together. The continuous value gives trend and volume, while the switch provides a hard fail-safe point.
Match the communications to the site
A good sensor still needs a path back to the people or systems that act on the data. Remote tanks often sit where Wi-Fi is unavailable, mobile coverage is marginal and mains power is absent.
LoRaWAN suits many wide-area monitoring jobs
LoRaWAN is designed for low-power, long-range sensor data. It can work well for tank levels because the data payload is small and updates do not usually need to happen every few seconds.
A typical setup may include:
A sensor node on or near the tank
A LoRaWAN gateway within radio range
A network server or platform
A dashboard, alerting system or integration point
For farms and facilities with several tanks, a gateway can support multiple devices if the radio path is suitable. Terrain, buildings, vegetation, tank materials and antenna placement all affect performance. A site survey or staged rollout helps avoid overpromising coverage.
LoRaWAN also suits battery or solar-powered devices because the sensor can sleep between readings. The reporting interval matters. Sending level data every few minutes uses more power than sending it hourly. The right interval depends on how fast the tank can change and how quickly someone needs to respond.
Cellular can suit isolated sites with coverage
Cellular monitoring can be practical where mobile coverage is reliable and there is no LoRaWAN network nearby. It may suit a single remote tank or temporary monitoring project.
The trade-offs are usually power use, SIM management and recurring data costs. Cellular devices may need larger batteries, solar charging or mains power, depending on the reporting interval and device design.
Wi-Fi is usually best for facilities, not paddocks
Wi-Fi can work for tanks near buildings, depots or treatment areas. It is less suitable for remote paddocks unless the site already has reliable coverage. It can be tempting because the network already exists, but tank locations often sit just outside the strong signal area.
A weak Wi-Fi connection can create a frustrating pattern: the sensor works during setup, then drops out when the weather changes or a door closes. For critical monitoring, treat communications as part of the measurement system, not an afterthought.
Convert distance into a useful tank reading
Raw distance is rarely the final value people want to see. A sensor may report that the water surface is a certain distance from the sensor face. The dashboard then needs to turn that into level, percentage or volume.
For ultrasonic devices, the relationship can feel backwards at first:
Empty tank The distance from sensor to water is larger.
Full tank The distance from sensor to water is smaller.
If the conversion is set up incorrectly, the dashboard can show the opposite trend. A filling tank may appear to be emptying. That mistake is easy to miss during commissioning if the tank level is not changing much.
Record the empty and full references after installation. The best reference points are the real distances from the mounted sensor to the empty or lowest usable level, and from the mounted sensor to the full or highest safe level. Do not rely only on tank catalogue dimensions, especially if the sensor sits above a hatch, riser or bracket.
Separate total capacity from usable water
Tank capacity and usable water are not always the same. This matters for alerts and refill planning.
A tank may hold a stated total volume, but the outlet may sit above the base. A pump may need a minimum water level to avoid cavitation or dry running. Sediment, internal sumps and tank slope can change how much water is actually available.
For a practical dashboard, separate these values:
Reading | What it means | Why it matters |
Total capacity | The full physical capacity of the tank | Useful for asset records and broad planning |
Current level | The measured water height or percentage | Shows present condition |
Current volume | The calculated amount in the tank | Helps plan refill quantity |
Usable volume | The water available above outlet or cutoff level | Better for alarms and pump protection |
Reserve level | The point where action should happen | Supports alerts before the tank becomes critical |
The alarm point should usually relate to usable volume, not total capacity. A tank showing 15 per cent full may already be below the safe pump suction level. Another tank with a low outlet may still have useful reserve at the same percentage.
Account for tank shape before showing volume
Percentage level is simple when the tank has a constant cross-section. A vertical cylindrical tank or rectangular tank is usually straightforward. If the level drops by half, the volume is roughly half.
Other shapes need more care.
A horizontal cylinder does not drain in a straight-line relationship. The middle section holds more volume per centimetre of height than the curved top and bottom. A dashboard that assumes a straight vertical tank can show misleading volumes.
Irregular reservoirs, troughs and custom tanks may need a lookup table or site-specific calibration. In those cases, it can help to measure real volume changes at several known points rather than relying on a simple formula.
Where possible, validate the displayed level against a physical reference. That might be a sight tube, dip mark, known refill amount or manual measurement. Check several points across the normal operating range, not just full and empty.
Build alarms for low level, fast change and missing data
Tank monitoring is most useful when it alerts people before the problem becomes urgent. Low-level alarms are the obvious starting point, but they are not the only useful alarm.
Low-level alarms should give enough time to act
A low alarm should not trigger when the tank is already unusable. Set it high enough to allow for travel time, refill lead time, demand and the next expected reading interval.
For example, a remote stock water tank may need an alert while there is still enough water for several days. A facility tank connected to a process may need a much tighter alarm response.
Consider using stages:
Advisory level Plan a refill or inspection.
Low level Schedule action soon.
Critical level Act now or shut down dependent equipment.
Fast-drop alarms can point to leaks or abnormal use
A tank that falls slowly through the day may be normal. A tank that drops quickly overnight may point to a broken pipe, stuck valve or unexpected draw-off.
Rate-of-change alarms compare the current reading with earlier readings. They need sensible thresholds, otherwise normal pump cycles or irrigation events may create false alarms.
Use local operating patterns to set these alerts. A dairy, vineyard, depot and remote trough system will each behave differently.
Missing-data alarms are just as important as level alarms
A silent sensor is not the same as a healthy tank. If the dashboard stops receiving data, the system should raise a missing-data alarm.
Missing data can come from many causes:
Flat battery
Damaged cable or antenna
Gateway outage
Network issue
Device fault
Poor radio path after site changes
Water ingress or environmental damage
Set the missing-data timeout longer than the normal reporting interval, but short enough to matter. If a sensor reports hourly, do not wait a week to flag that it has stopped.
Check installation details before relying on the data
Commissioning should prove three things: the sensor reads correctly, the communications path works and the displayed value matches the tank.
A practical commissioning checklist includes:
Confirm the selected device suits the tank depth and mounting space.
Check the environmental rating for exposed sun, rain, dust and washdown.
Mount the sensor where it has a clear path to the water surface.
Avoid beams, braces, inlet streams and sidewall reflections where possible.
Record the empty, full and usable-level reference points.
Confirm the dashboard trend rises when the tank fills.
Validate the reading against a physical reference.
Test alerts for low level and missing data.
Check signal strength or network status at the final antenna position.
Record photos and setup values for later maintenance.
For exposed sites, cable glands, UV-rated materials, insect protection and mechanical mounting deserve attention. A loose bracket can make a good sensor look unreliable. Condensation can also build up in some tank environments, so the mounting method should suit the conditions.
For product selection, review the exact specifications rather than assuming all devices in a range behave the same way. Dragino models can differ in sensing method, enclosure, measurement limits, power options and communications. The ProSense level range is a useful starting point for comparing level monitoring options.
A good tank system turns measurements into decisions
Remote monitoring does not remove the need for good tank knowledge. It makes that knowledge easier to use. The strongest systems start with the tank, choose a sensing method that suits the site, convert the raw reading carefully and raise alarms that reflect real operating risk.
For farms, that may mean fewer routine drives and earlier warning when a trough or header tank is running low. For facilities, it may mean clearer refill planning, better pump protection and faster response to abnormal consumption.
The best test is simple: when the dashboard changes, does someone know what to do next? If the answer is yes, the tank reading is doing its job.
