Internet of Things Revolutionizes Water Resource Management

Advances in Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) have significantly improved water resource management. A recent review paper published in Discover Internet of Things highlights the increasing role of IoT applications in the field of water resources engineering (WRE). The paper, titled "Use of Internet of Things in water resources applications: challenges and future directions: a critical review," provides a comprehensive review of IoT combined with AI/ML techniques in various domains of WRE from 1998 to 2024.

Key Takeaways:

• IoT technologies have become essential for timely and informed decision-making in water resource management.
• The review paper covers the use of IoT in various areas, including water quality monitoring, smart irrigation, groundwater quality/level assessment, domestic/industrial wastewater monitoring, and urban/flash flood monitoring.
• 166 research papers were reviewed, exploring the key challenges, current status, and future directions in the potential applications of IoT in various domains of WRE.
• The most highly regarded IoT sub-vertical is water quality monitoring, followed by smart irrigation systems, groundwater quality monitoring, monitoring of domestic/industrial wastewater quality, and monitoring of urban/flash floods.
• pH sensors were used in 47% of the cases, turbidity sensors in 44%, and ML techniques in 42% for predictive analysis, often combined with communication protocols such as LoRaWAN, which appeared in 36% of the studies.
• The review revealed that IoT technologies have contributed to more efficient, accurate, and sustainable approaches to water resource management.
• The paper highlights the increasing role of IoT applications in the field of WRE and explores how these innovations have contributed to more efficient, accurate, and sustainable approaches to water resource management.

Statistics:

• 166 research papers were reviewed for the study.
• IoT technologies were used in 47% cases for pH sensors, 44% for turbidity sensors, and 42% for ML techniques for predictive analysis.
• Communication protocols such as LoRaWAN appeared in 36% of the studies.
• Water quality monitoring was the most highly regarded IoT sub-vertical.
• Smart irrigation systems were the second most highly regarded IoT sub-vertical.

Sources:

• "Use of Internet of Things in water resources applications: challenges and future directions: a critical review" in Discover Internet of Things, 2025,5(1):1-58, Published by Springer.
• National Institute of Technology Raipur, Department of Civil Engineering.
• Discover Internet of Things, 2025,5(1):1-58.
• Ecology, Environment & Conservation. October 24, 2025; p 8.