CONCORDIA INNOVATION LAB
Remote Water-Level Monitoring
A contactless water level sensor for remote
water basin monitoring
HOW MIGHT WE?
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Livestock farmers who practice rotational grazing spend hours every week driving to remote water basins to check water levels. If a basin runs dry undetected, animals face dehydration which can happen overnight. Existing commercial monitoring solutions cost $2,000–$10,000 and require subscriptions. Our team has built a $154 open-source device that can be made at home.
What makes our monitoring device unique is its contactless sensor and use of LTE connectivity at such a low cost to send real-time alerts directly to the farmer using a Discord bot. This is crucial for regenerative operations where livestock are frequently moved and often graze beyond the reach of Wi-Fi networks.
Status
Ongoing Field Tests
TEAM
Tommy Cao, Niall Cunningham, Maya Marshel, Parsa Fard, Louise Purdy, Sunicha Mahamad,
Aalok Sud
Stack
Livestock Management,
IoT, Monitoring device
START date
Fall 2025
Beyond its unbeatable price, our water level sensor has two unique features that make it stand out from competitors in the market.
1. Contactless
the ultrasound node used in our sensor means that the device never makes direct contact with the water. The device is attached to the rim of the water basin, protecting it from potential damage or obstruction of the water. Additionally, our device is fully water-resistant, meaning that a few splashes won't interfere with the devices operation.
2. LTE-Powered
Our device uses a LTE connectivity to relay information back to to farmer's smartphone. This is crucial for regenerative operations where livestock are frequently moved and often graze beyond the reach of Wi-Fi networks. Most competing devices on the market rely on Wi-Fi connectivity, Imagine how bad your Wi-Fi is at home, now imagine adding 12km of distance between the Wi-Fi router and your device.
Concordia 4TH SPACE presentation recording