Smart City Use Case: Real-time water levels and biodiversity at a glance
Sensors and IoT show how municipalities can combine heavy rain prevention and beaver management using the example of the Niers river—Pepperl+Fuchs provides the right technology.
How do weather and beaver activity influence the water level of an urban waterway—and how can risks be identified early on? A smart city project on the Niers River in Mönchengladbach provides the answer: Sensors record water levels, weather data, and water parameters in real time and transmit this information in an energy-efficient manner via LoRaWAN. The results support both heavy rain prevention and beaver management.
Pepperl+Fuchs shows which sensor and IIoT components municipalities and utilities can use immediately for similar projects.
Starting point: Protecting natural spaces, securing infrastructure
Beavers are back—and they are shaping waterways by building dams. This creates habitats, but also changes runoff, sedimentation, and water levels. Municipalities therefore need reliable data: Where are water levels rising? Is rain the trigger, or is it the dam? When is action needed?
Solution: Water levels, weather, quality – live in the control room
Ultrasonic level measurement technology measures the distance to the water surface at defined intervals.
Weather sensors provide precipitation, wind, and other parameters for cause analysis (rain front or beaver activity).
Energy-efficient radio transmission (LoRaWAN) over long distances, battery operation for years.
Dual measurement setup: in front of the beaver dam ("beaver pond") and in the reference area behind it – for clear comparisons.
Water parameters such as turbidity and nutrients complete the picture of sedimentation and water quality.
Practical benefits: early warning at critical levels, fewer on-site checks, targeted intervention, documentation for heavy rain and flood management. For beaver management, a water depth of around 80 cm is considered the comfort zone – monitoring shows when local adjustments are necessary.
What Pepperl+Fuchs provides for this
Ultrasonic sensors for level and distance determination (robust, IP-protected, suitable for outdoor use).
Industrial interfaces and connectivity: IO-Link master, Ethernet-based connection, edge connectors.
Integration into LoRaWAN infrastructures via partner gateways and IO-Link/edge adapters.
Explosion protection and field device expertise for demanding environments.
Project support from sensor selection to data provision in control rooms, dashboards, and via API.
Reference architecture (example)
Data acquisition: Ultrasonic sensor for level measurement and a weather sensor at the site.
Connection: Sensors via IO-Link to an edge adapter and then to a LoRaWAN gateway.
Transmission: LoRaWAN to the municipal or company network with defined transmission intervals.
Data level: From the network server to the specialist platform and on to the control room, SCADA, or dashboard.
Alarms and rules: Threshold values for level rise or permanent overflow with notification.
Analysis: Correlation between rain and wind on the one hand and level progression on the other; trend and sedimentation over time.
For municipalities, utilities, and water associations
Heavy rain prevention: Identify correlations between weather events and water level trends and react more quickly.
Ecology and traffic safety: Monitoring protects riparian vegetation, paths, and bridges.
Efficiency: Fewer manual checks, traceable decisions, auditable data basis.
Note: The Niers project described was implemented by the city of Mönchengladbach and NEW AG as part of the Smart City program and serves as a reference example.
Source (original report):
Sensors on the Niers – "Beavers and water level always in view" | City of Mönchengladbach, Vitusblog
Call to action
Are you planning water level or biodiversity monitoring?
Pepperl+Fuchs provides support for sensor technology, connectivity, and integration—from pilot to rollout. Get in touch!
