Internet of Things for Wastewater Monitoring in Smart Environment

Considering smart environments, the Internet of Things (IoT) plays an increasingly important role in the monitoring of the environment, especially in regard to the management of wastewater systems. Intelligent IoT technologies empower unprecedented real-time sensing, data collection, remote monitoring, and intelligent decision-making, transforming wastewater management into a more effective, flexible, sustainable, and streamlined system. This chapter explores the development and deployment of IoT-based wastewater monitoring systems in relation to resource recovery optimization, water quality management, and compliance in urban and industrial settings. The chapter begins by discussing the main challenges faced by traditional wastewater monitoring systems, such as slow data collection, lack of automation, and poor contaminant and system failure detection. It then presents an overview of IoT architecture, actuators, sensors, data transmission modules, cloud computing, analytics, and their collective contribution to the formation of a smart wastewater management network. Case studies and existing models of IoT applications are examined to present examples of successful deployment, particularly for regions experiencing water scarcity, pollution, or constrained monitoring capacity. In addition, the chapter covers the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in augmenting the prediction capacity of IoT systems so that proactive maintenance and pollutant prediction can be facilitated. The chapter ends on a note covering the limitations, including data protection, scalability, and legacy system integration, and directions for future research and innovation. Particular emphasis is given to how IoT-based wastewater monitoring benefits global sustainability objectives, especially SDG 6 and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).