Implementation of a Dynamic LoRa Network for Real-Time Monitoring of Water Quality

Water quality is a key factor in environmental and agronomic sustainability. Due to the influence of human activity and industrial development, the composition of rivers or lakes can experience significant variations both immediately and over time. In order to obtain a more accurate and documented assessment of these data, distributed monitoring with multiple sampling points is necessary. This paper presents the design and implementation of a scalable monitoring network based on long range (LoRa) and Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), integrating a submersible sensor module (SSM) that works as a static measuring station or as a complement to sediment collectors, capable of measuring key water quality parameters such as TDS, turbidity, pH, temperature, and river kinematics with a gyroscope. The system includes a LoRa repeater (LRR) and a gateway, in addition to the SSM, which manages information transmission to a monitoring server (MS) using a tree topology. This configuration allows for dynamic antenna power adjustment based on the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) between the LRR and the gateway. Evaluations were performed on the Chil River in Arequipa, Peru, a rapid river that demonstrated ideal characteristics for validating the system’s efficacy. The results confirm the design’s efficacy and its capacity for real-time remote water quality monitoring.