How to Choose a Remote Water Monitoring System
Choosing a remote water monitoring system comes down to five things — the sensing technology (non-contact ultrasonic or submerged pressure), connectivity and coverage at your sites, how it's powered, the alarms, and whether every sensor lives in one app. Match those to your conditions, especially freeze risk and cell coverage, and the decision gets simple. Here's what to weigh, and the red flags to avoid.
Start with the five things that matter
There’s a lot of marketing around remote monitoring, but the decision really hinges on five questions. Answer these for your operation and you’ll know what you need.
1. Sensing technology
This is the biggest choice, and it’s about your water, not the brand:
- Non-contact ultrasonic mounts above the water and reads the surface — nothing submerged to foul, corrode, or pull for cleaning. It suits tanks and troughs.
- Submerged pressure sits in the water and reads the depth above it. It’s the better fit where surfaces freeze — a sensor below the ice keeps reading when an above-water one would just see the ice. Common on dams and ponds in cold country.
Many operations run both — see ultrasonic vs. pressure for the full comparison.
2. Connectivity and coverage
The sensor is useless if its readings can’t get out. Confirm there’s cellular coverage at the actual watering points, not the headquarters. Low-power NB-IoT covers most rural sites cheaply; LTE or satellite cover the rest at higher cost. A good supplier checks coverage before you buy.
3. Power
Out at the tank there’s no power outlet, so look for multi-year battery life with a solar option and no wiring. Anything that needs mains power or frequent battery changes won’t last in the field.
4. Alarms and reporting
The whole point is to be told, not to go look. Make sure you can set low- and high-water alarms (low for stock supply, high for overflow or a stuck-open valve), and that history is stored so you can see the trend, not just one reading.
5. One app for everything
If you’ll ever watch more than one point — and most people do — every sensor should report into one account and one screen, across multiple properties, instead of a separate login per device.
Red flags to avoid
- Needs Wi-Fi or mains power at the tank — it won’t reach the back of the property.
- A submerged probe in shallow water that will foul, corrode, or freeze and crack.
- No coverage check before purchase — a recipe for a sensor that can’t report.
- Short battery life or no solar option — a maintenance chore you’ll resent.
- A separate login per device — unmanageable past a couple of sensors.
How to buy without regret
Don’t wire the whole place at once. Put one sensor on your hardest site — the longest drive or the one that’s failed before — confirm coverage for that exact spot, and run it for a season. Every sensor is backed by a 60-day money-back guarantee, so you see it work on your own operation before you’re committed. Then expand with confidence. You can check the likely payback with the savings calculator, and browse the product range to see where you can grow.
The hardware this guide covers
Every device reports to the same Meterra dashboard and app.
Tell us what you need to keep an eye on and we'll map the right sensors and coverage.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for in a remote water monitoring system?
Five things — the sensing technology suited to your water, real cellular coverage at the actual sites, multi-year battery or solar power, alarms you can set for low and high water, and one app that holds every sensor. Get those right and the rest is detail.
Ultrasonic or pressure sensor — which do I need?
Ultrasonic mounts above the water and never touches it, which suits tanks. A submerged pressure sensor sits in the water and is the better fit where you read depth directly or beneath ice — troughs, dams, and ponds, especially in cold country. Many operations use both — choose by the site.
What are the red flags?
Anything needing Wi-Fi or mains power at the tank, a submerged probe in shallow water that will foul or freeze, no coverage check before you buy, short battery life, or a separate login per device. Each one turns into a maintenance or cost headache later.
How do I avoid buying the wrong thing?
Start with one sensor on your hardest site and a coverage check for that exact spot, not the ranch headquarters. Ask about a demo unit and a trial so you can see it work on your operation before committing to the whole property.
Related Meterra pages
- Tank Level Sensor — the non-contact ultrasonic option — $299.
- Trough Level Monitor — the submerged pressure option — $399.
- Dam Level Monitor — open water and ponds — $499.
- Ultrasonic vs. Pressure Sensors — choosing the right sensing technology for your water.
- Cellular vs. Satellite — matching connectivity to coverage at your sites.
- All Competitors Compared — Meterra, RanchBot, Gallagher, and LoneStar in one honest table.
- Meterra Product Range — the two sensors we lead with.
- Water Savings Calculator — check the payback for your operation.