LPWAN SOLUTIONS
Underground Water Pipeline Pressure Monitoring
Optimizing water management with advanced underground pipeline pressure monitoring
Reducing water loss through near real-time pressure data
Leveraging NB-IoT technology for accurate and efficient monitoring
Ensuring sustainable water management with battery-operated sensors
Solution
The Underground Water Pipeline Pressure Monitoring Solution delivers continuous line pressure tracking, transient water hammer detection, night-flow leak analysis, and burst alert notifications for buried water distribution mains and underground valve chambers. By digitizing subterranean water networks without complex wired telemetry, the system helps utility managers cut non-revenue water (NRW) loss and prevent catastrophic pipeline ruptures. Delivered fully pre-configured, the solution connects seamlessly to the Ellenex Software Platform straight out of the box.
This IoT-driven subterranean monitoring system provides key operational advantages:
Zero-Touch Subsurface Deployment: Shipped fully pre-programmed for instant plug-and-play installation into pressurized underground tapping points in under 5 minutes without requiring local software setup.
Flexible Dual LPWAN Protocols: Deployment flexibility through LoRaWAN® (ideal for private municipal or district networks with zero ongoing airtime fees) or NB-IoT / LTE-M (for direct public cellular connections across distributed urban mains).
Open System Interoperability: Operates natively with the Ellenex Software Platform out of the box, while maintaining full compatibility with third-party LoRaWAN Network Servers (LNS), SCADA systems, and hydraulic modeling software.
High-Frequency Surge & Leak Detection: Rapid pressure sampling flags destructive water hammer transients and subtle baseline drops, allowing teams to catch underground leaks before pipe bursts occur.
Heavy-Duty Media-Isolated Construction: Built with a direct-threaded 316L stainless steel piezoresistive pressure transducer paired with an IP66 UV-stabilized transmitter enclosure for long-term subterranean durability.
Minimal Operational Expenditure: Low-power firmware combined with an internal 3.6V Lithium battery delivers maintenance-free operational lifespans of up to 10 years.
Fast Capital Return: Accelerates ROI by identifying unrecorded leaks, preventing infrastructure damage, and minimizing costly roadway excavation through remote diagnostic telemetry. Learn More
Easy Install
Pre-Configured
Secure
Quick ROI
Rugged Design
Battery Operated
Our Underground Water Pipeline Pressure Monitoring Solution provides a comprehensive approach to efficient network management and distribution control. By leveraging cutting-edge, media-isolated 316L stainless steel piezoresistive pressure transducers, municipal utilities and industrial facility managers can track, control, and optimize their buried distribution infrastructure in real time. The result is a future-proof solution that not only addresses current surcharging and pressure management challenges but also adapts to changing regulatory demands, ultimately protecting public health, civil assets, and water security.
Connecting buried distribution mains and subterranean valve chambers to a central digital network transforms static underground piping into an intelligent infrastructure monitoring network. By streaming continuous pressure telemetry directly to a cloud platform, network engineers gain complete visibility over every pressure zone while eliminating unrecorded losses.
Predictive Performance
Continuous historical logging from 316L stainless steel pressure transducers equips municipal teams with predictive hydraulic modeling, zone profiling, and night-flow leakage analytics. By tracking baseline pressure behavior during minimum night-flow windows, utility engineers can algorithmically identify micro-cracks and joint stress long before fluid breaks through street pavement. This data-driven foresight enables targeted pipe maintenance, dynamic pressure-reducing valve (PRV) adjustments, and extended operational lifespans for buried utility assets.
Resilient Operation
Continuous telemetry from direct-threaded, IP68-rated pressure sensors delivers total structural reliability across high-pressure subterranean networks. Built to withstand intense pressure spikes, aggressive soil moisture, and harsh environmental conditions, the sensor head maintains precise factory calibration without zero-drift. Instant transient warnings immediately notify operators of severe water hammer events or sudden main bursts, allowing maintenance crews to execute rapid isolation procedures and prevent major structural washouts around the pipe bed.
Battery-powered underground water pipeline pressure monitoring with LoRaWAN® or NB-IoT / LTE-M connectivity for municipal and industrial networks.
Core Operational Capabilities
Direct-Threaded 316L Stainless Steel Piezoresistive Pressure Sensing element
LoRaWAN / NB-IoT / LTE-M
IP68 UV-Protected Enclosure
Heavy-Duty Media-Isolated Process Sensor Head (1/4" or 1/2" NPT/G Thread)
Up to 10-Year Battery Life
Cloud / API / SCADA Integration
Advanced Underground Water Pipeline Pressure Monitoring with Ellenex IP68 rated Pressure Sensors
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Effective underground water pipeline pressure monitoring is essential for preventing water loss, saving resources, and ensuring the sustainability of our water supply.
Industrial Outdoor LoRaWAN Gateway Specifications
For customers deploying the LoRaWAN package, the high-performance industrial gateway provides complete self-managed coverage. It is pre-configured to forward packet data to the Ellenex Platform.
System Architecture
The integrated Solution telemetry platform is designed around a dual-LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) hardware architecture, giving operators the flexibility to deploy either LoRaWAN or cellular-based (supporting NB-IoT and LTE Cat M1) network configurations depending on local infrastructure and regional topology. Both communication technologies represent the cutting edge of industrial IoT, designed to penetrate challenging physical barriers and achieve multi-kilo meter propagation distances while maintaining extremely low electrical current draws.
The Ellenex telemetry pipeline follows a streamlined 4-step end-to-end data flow designed to give customers total choice over their network infrastructure and software platform:
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Sensor: The single Ellenex battery-powered field device directly measures physical parameters, digitizes analog signals, applies factory calibration parameters, packages telemetry into AES-128 encrypted payloads, and manages low-power sleep modes within a unified unit. Learn More:
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Wireless Infrastructure Options:
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Option A (LoRaWAN Option): Transmits sub-GHz radio packets to an Ellenex Pre-Configured Outdoor Gateway. The gateway acts as a transparent Layer-1/Layer-2 RF-to-IP bridge. Learn More
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Option B (Cellular NB-IoT / LTE-M Option): Transmits encrypted telemetry directly across licensed 3GPP cellular networks to public mobile base station towers. Learn More.
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3. Network Core & Data Routing Layer: Encrypted sub-GHz packets are securely routed from the gateway to the Ellenex Network Server (LNS). The LNS manages crucial network functions—including device authentication, payload decryption, and frame deduplication—ensuring clean, secure sensor data is seamlessly delivered to Ellenex Software Platform.
4. Data Processing & Platform Visualization: All telemetry is ingested, decoded, and visualized seamlessly within the Ellenex Cloud Software Platform. The software transforms raw sensor data into actionable insights through real-time dashboards, historical trend analysis, threshold alerting, and device health management.
Connectivity & Visualisation Platform
With its advanced features and ease of use, Ellenex’s software platform enables effective monitoring and management of remote operations—ensuring efficient, sustainable, and reliable resource management.
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Encrypted ultra-low power communication protocol.
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Advanced device inventory.
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Integration of APIs for enterprise systems.
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Multi-tenant role-based access control.
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Data export and import.
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White-label platform for enterprise runs on private accounts.
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Variable alarm setting for high and low thresholds and multi-channel alerting.
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Sampling and transmission interval configuration.
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Transmission condition configuration.
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Other configurations and customizations available on request.
Ellenex's software platform is a comprehensive, user-friendly solution specifically designed for remote monitoring and management.
The platform offers a robust range of features tailored for off grid, distributed, and critical operations, including:
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Real-Time Data Visualization: Monitor live operational status, levels, and key metrics across all your locations from a centralized dashboard.
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Customizable Alerts & Notifications: Receive instant warnings for threshold breaches, sudden drops, or anomalous activity before minor issues become costly failures.
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Historical Data Analysis & Predictive Analytics: Track consumption patterns, analyze usage trends, and forecast future demand to optimize maintenance and supply schedules.
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Seamless System & API Integration: Easily feed raw or aggregated telemetry into your existing enterprise software, SCADA, or ERP systems using Ellenex’s secure Open API.
Key Benefits
Ellenex Software Platform Dashboard
Individual Device Details & Data Analytics View
Parameter Configuration and GPS Location View
Device Management Interface
Historical Data & Performance Analytics
Remote Command and Downlink Control Log
Ellenex Asset Monitoring App
Custom alert and Notification Setup Interface
Data Export and Reporting Interface
Webhook and Data Forwarding Interface
Sensor Calibration and Formula Configuration
Integration Options
A core competitive advantage of the solution is its complete pre-configured, plug-and-play design. Both the cellular and LoRaWAN (with local gateway) variants arrive fully configured and ready for connection to the Ellenex platform out of the box, eliminating the complexities of local software setup, sensor programming, or manual network registration.
The end-to-end package includes the following integration characteristics:
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Zero Technical Hassles: No extra power tools, driver setup, or developer configurations are required. Deployment is completed in under 5 minutes.
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Pre-Configured Gateway Provisioning: The industrial outdoor gateway is pre-commissioned to automatically bind with the Ellenex LNS stack. Once powered via PoE or DC, it immediately discovers sensors, decrypts the payloads, and relays them directly to the centralized cloud dashboard, seamlessly routing data to the Ellenex Platform.
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Pre-Configured SIM & Connectivity: For NB-IoT deployments, the transmitter is shipped with a pre-configured 4FF Nano-SIM card and active carrier subscription, ready to transmit on regional networks immediately upon power-up.
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Unified Fleet Visualization: Once powered on, both device variants automatically check in and populate their respective live measurement streams to the user’s centralized mobile app or web dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the subterranean pressure monitoring solution penetrate concrete valve vaults and roadway asphalt?
The solution uses low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) protocols designed specifically for high obstacle penetration. The NB-IoT / LTE-M cellular option (-N) leverages a +20 dB link budget enhancement within 3GPP cellular standards to pass signals through concrete vault covers and subterranean barriers directly to cell towers. For private installations, the LoRaWAN option (-L) utilizes sub-GHz Chirp Spread Spectrum modulation to send encrypted radio packets from underground chambers to an above-ground Ellenex Outdoor Gateway.
What process threading configurations are used to connect the sensor to pressurized underground tapping points?
The media-isolated transducer head comes standard with 1/4" or 1/2" NPT and BSPP (G thread) process connections. Field technicians can screw the 316L stainless steel probe directly into corporation stops, tapping saddles, or valve chamber manifolds without interrupting main line flow or disturbing nearby underground infrastructure.
How are transient water hammer events logged without draining the internal battery?
The device firmware uses an intelligent high-speed sampling algorithm that constantly monitors pressure fluctuations locally at the sensor level. Under steady-state conditions, the device remains in a low-power sleep mode and transmits data at pre-set time intervals. If a rapid pressure wave or water hammer transient crosses a defined threshold, the unit wakes up instantly to log the high-resolution transient profile and send a surge alert to the Ellenex Software Platform.
What pressure range options are available for buried municipal water mains?
The solution supports a wide range of piezoresistive pressure options to handle varying network head losses. Standard choices range from 0.5 bar up to 1000 bar (including 10 bar, 20 bar, 50 bar, and 100 bar variants), with custom pressure ranges configured on demand for specialized high-pressure lines or low-pressure gravity systems.
How does real-time pressure monitoring help utilities lower Non-Revenue Water (NRW)?
Continuous line pressure tracking delivered to the Ellenex Software Platform allows utilities to implement district metered area (DMA) management. By monitoring minimum night-flow pressure trends when customer usage drops, engineers can detect subtle pressure drops caused by background joint leaks. Fixing these small leaks early stops them from expanding into major pipe blowouts, saving millions of gallons of treated water.
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