Water & Wastewater Monitoring

How does remote lift station monitoring work?

Remote lift station monitoring places a level sensor in the wet well and a gateway at the station, which sends readings to a cloud dashboard at set intervals and alerts operators when the level crosses a threshold.

A typical setup has three parts: a level sensor in the wet well, a gateway that transmits over cellular (LTE-M/NB-IoT) or satellite, and the LevelCon platform, where every station appears on one map with its level history. Wet wells are hard on sensors. Foam, grease, condensation, and sewer gas all interfere with measurement, which is why non-contact radar is usually a better choice than ultrasonic here. Our radar vs. ultrasonic comparison explains why.

Level alone tells you a lot about a station. A wet well that rises faster than normal in dry weather can point to a pump that has stopped moving water, while a level that keeps climbing during a storm warns that inflow is outrunning pump capacity.

• High-level alarm: the wet well is approaching its overflow elevation.
• Rate-of-change alarm: the level is rising faster than the station's normal fill pattern.
• Low-level alarm: the well is being pumped down below the normal pump-off point, which risks running a pump dry.

How does remote monitoring help prevent sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs)?

Remote monitoring helps prevent sanitary sewer overflows by warning crews that a wet well or holding tank is filling toward its overflow point while there is still time to respond.

Overflows rarely happen without warning. Pump failures, clogged impellers, power loss, and storm inflow all show up first as a rising level. The problem is visibility: if a station is only checked on a weekly drive-by, it can fill and spill between visits. Scheduled readings with threshold alerts shrink that blind spot from days to a single reporting interval, and alarms go out by SMS, email, or the LevelCon mobile app.

The level history matters after an event too. Every reading is logged with a timestamp, so when an internal review or a regulator asks when a station started rising and when crews responded, the answer is in the record instead of a paper log. Treat that record as supporting documentation. Your actual reporting obligations come from your permit and state agency.

What water and wastewater tanks can you monitor remotely?

You can monitor almost any tank or vessel with a measurable level, including lift station wet wells, potable water storage tanks and towers, chemical feed tanks, and treatment process tanks.

For a broader look at how sensors, gateways, and alerts fit together, see our tank level monitoring guide.

• Lift station wet wells: high-level and pump-down alerts across the collection system.
• Ground storage tanks and elevated towers: low-level alerts that protect supply and fire-flow reserves, and high-level alerts that catch an overfill.
• Chemical feed tanks: sodium hypochlorite, coagulants, and other treatment chemicals, so deliveries are scheduled before a feed system runs dry.
• Treatment process tanks: level trends in equalization and holding tanks at municipal and industrial plants.
• Industrial wastewater and sump tanks: high-level alerts where plants collect process water before discharge or hauling.

Which level sensor works best in a wet well or water tank?

Non-contact radar is usually the best fit for wet wells and wastewater tanks, while ultrasonic or submersible sensors can be a lower-cost option for clean water storage.

Radar reads through the foam, vapor, and condensation that can scatter an ultrasonic signal, and it never touches the sewage, so there is nothing to rag up or foul. Clean water tanks with calm surfaces are a different case. Ultrasonic sensors measure them well, and submersible pressure sensors are an accurate, cost-effective option for compatible liquids. Chemical feed tanks call for non-contact sensing or wetted materials chosen for the specific chemical.

Our ultrasonic vs. radar guide by application maps sensor choice tank by tank, including wastewater, lift stations, and clean water storage.

Can remote monitoring control lift station pumps?

Yes. LevelCon automation can start and stop pumps based on tank level thresholds and connect to existing SCADA systems over Modbus and a REST API.

Many utilities already have SCADA at their largest stations and nothing at the smaller ones. Remote monitoring can fill that gap without replacing what already works: LevelCon data flows into existing SCADA and DCS systems over Modbus and REST API, so outlying stations show up next to the instrumented ones. Where pump control is needed, automation rules act on threshold, rate-of-change, or scheduled triggers, with fail-safe defaults that return equipment to a safe state if connectivity is lost.

Which LevelCon products fit water and wastewater sites?

Most water and wastewater deployments pair LevelCon sensors with an F200 gateway or an all-in-one XSync unit, all reporting to the same LevelCon platform.

LevelCon brings 40+ years in industrial monitoring and more than 50,000 monitored assets across 150+ customers.

• F200: 4G LTE gateway with 4–20 mA, 0–5 V, RS-485, and RS-232 inputs plus pulse counting, so it can bring existing level transducers and flow meters online. IP67-rated, with 5+ years of unattended operation at two reports per day.
• XSync R: 60 GHz radar and cellular in one solar-powered unit, reading level without touching the liquid at ranges up to 5 meters.
• XSync DP: differential pressure for filters, flow elements, and level-by-pressure applications.
• Stationary tank monitors: level sensor and gateway in one pre-configured enclosure for water and chemical storage tanks.
• Automation: threshold-based pump control and SCADA integration.