Livestock water monitoring: what a reading catches on a trough and on a storage tank
To know the water in a stock tank without driving out to it, put a level monitor on the tank: a sensor over the water reads the level on a schedule and sends it to your phone or to a receiver in the house, and an alert comes when the level crosses a line you set. What a reading tells you depends on the tank it is on: a trough fed by a float valve should hold flat, so any move is news, and the storage tank behind it should fall with the herd, so the rate is the news.
By Luke Patterson, co-founder of Trivertix. Last checked November 2, 2026.
Four ways to know the water
South Dakota State University Extension cites research that producers may spend over $1,500 a year on fuel checking water, and puts commercial monitors at $500 and up.
| What you get | What it needs | |
|---|---|---|
| The drive | Your own eyes on the water, the valve and the cattle | A truck and the hours |
| A cellular trail camera | A picture on a schedule, such as morning and evening, and no number | A cell signal at the tank |
| A satellite or cellular level monitor | The level on your phone, and an alert at a line you set | The sky or a cell signal, and a plan for the connection |
| A radio level monitor, such as Trivertix | The level on a receiver in the house, and on your phone through the app | A radio path to a building with power, within about a mile |
Source, read November 2, 2026: South Dakota State University Extension: Water monitoring systems for livestock.
What a reading catches, tank by tank
Where a storage tank feeds a trough through a float valve, the same trouble shows differently on each, and a sensor on both sees it soonest.
| On the trough | On the storage tank | |
|---|---|---|
| All well | Near flat at the float, with small dips | A fall through the hot hours, flat at night |
| A valve stuck open | A climb above the float line | A steady fall through the night too |
| A valve stuck shut | A fall with no refill | Flat on a day it should fall |
| A split line between them | A fall with no refill | A fall faster than the herd drinks |
| A pump that has quit | Nothing, while the storage lasts | Falls that are never made up |
A sensor reads the level and not the valve or the pipe: it tells you the water has gone wrong, and the drive tells you why. The guide to a stuck float valve works each valve fault through.
How much warning a reading gives
Some monitors report once a day, and a trough empties faster than most people guess. The sums are for 30 cow-calf pairs on a hot day, on a trough 8 feet across with its float shutting at 20 inches and its valve stuck shut.
- The herd on a hot day
- 750 to 1,020 gallons
- The trough at its float line
- About 630 gallons
- Dry from the float line
- In about 15 to 20 hours
- Readings from a low line of 8 inches to empty
- 24 to 32, one every 15 minutes
So a daily report can show a full trough and the next one find it dry. A reading every 15 minutes crosses the low line with hours of water left. These are averages: cattle drink most in the afternoon heat.
Sources, read October 13, 2026: University of Nebraska–Lincoln Beef: Water Requirements for Beef Cattle, NIST Handbook 44 (2026), Appendix C (PDF).
What a level monitor cannot see
- Ice. An ultrasonic sensor reads the first surface under it, and on a frozen trough that is the ice: the level holds steady while the cattle cannot drink.
- What is in the water: algae, salt or anything that has fallen in.
- Whether the cattle are coming to drink. A level that does not fall on a hot day says something is wrong, but not what.
- A tank it is not on. A sensor on the trough sees a quitting pump only when the storage is gone.
None of that makes the drive go away. It makes it a drive with a reason, to the tank that needs it.
Which alert lines to set
A line is a level that sends an alert when a reading crosses it. Trivertix gives one high and one low alert line, each with its own switch. The guide to how much cattle drink works the storage tank's low line from the herd.
Trough, high line
An inch or so above the float line, here 21 inches, and above the highest the trough sits in a week of readings while the valve works. It catches a valve stuck open.
Trough, low line
High enough to leave the hours it takes you to get there, here 8 inches. It catches a valve stuck shut and a split line.
Storage tank, low line
At least a day of the herd's water above the outlet, worked from the hottest weather you expect. It catches a pump that has quit before the trough feels it.
Where a satellite monitor is the better tool
A satellite link reaches a tank anywhere, as the extension page puts it, and a cellular one any tank with a signal. For a tank miles from the nearest building, that is the job. The comparison of five monitors sets out what each connection costs over five years.
Source, read November 2, 2026: South Dakota State University Extension: Water monitoring systems for livestock.
Trivertix is built for the nearer tanks. An ultrasonic sensor, on a pole over a trough or in the lid of a storage tank, reads the water about every 15 minutes and sends it by LoRa radio to a receiver in the house, with no cell signal needed at the tank. A mile or more with a clear line of sight; three-quarters of a mile through hills and mesquite on our pilot ranch.
The receiver shows the level with no subscription, and a monthly plan adds the app and the alerts on your phone. The first pilot units went onto cattle tanks on the Patterson ranch outside Karnes City, Texas. A ranch can run both kinds: satellite on the far pastures, Trivertix near headquarters.
How far a LoRa tank sensor reachesQuestions about watching livestock water
How can I check the water level in a stock tank without driving out to it?
Put a level monitor on it. A sensor over the water reads the level on a schedule and sends it to you, by satellite or a cell network from the tank, or, with Trivertix, by LoRa radio to a receiver in the house. Commercial monitors start at about $500, by South Dakota State University Extension's count. A cellular trail camera sends a picture instead of a number.
How do I get an alert on my phone when a stock tank runs low?
Set a low alert line on a level monitor that reports to an app. When a reading falls below the line, the app tells your phone. With Trivertix the app comes with a monthly plan, and it has one high and one low alert line, each with its own switch. Set the low line high enough to leave the hours it takes you to get there, worked from what your herd drinks on the hottest day you expect.
Does a once-a-day report catch a trough before it runs dry?
Not always. Thirty cow-calf pairs on a hot day drink a trough 8 feet across from a float line at 20 inches to dry in about 15 to 20 hours, by the University of Nebraska's figures, so a trough can be full at one daily report and empty before the next. A reading about every 15 minutes gives 24 to 32 readings between a low line at 8 inches and an empty trough.
Can an ultrasonic sensor read a trough that has frozen over?
It reads the top of the ice. An ultrasonic sensor times an echo off the first surface under it, and on a frozen trough that is the ice, so the level holds steady while the cattle cannot drink. A level that has stopped moving on a cold morning is the sign to watch, and on a monitor that reports water and air temperature, so are those: a night below freezing means it is time to go and break the ice.
Read next
How to tell a float valve is stuck
The shape each fault makes, and how fast each goes wrong.
How much water cattle drink in a day
Intake by class and temperature, worked to inches off the tank.
The stock tank water level monitor
What it does on an open tank, and where it does not fit.
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