LoRaWAN is one of the best technologies for collecting data from water meters. This is because LoRaWAN networks operate in sub gigaherz bands and apply low (~14dBm) TX power. This enables long (even 8-10 years) battery life if the meters report their counter only one or 2 times a day. However, bridging 10-20km distance for water meters is not realistic at all. (In theory, if you have line of site and both the meter and the gateway use special, high gain antennas, it may work, but such solution would not scale.) In practice, water meters are installed at problematic locations (underground in a water meter shaft, in the basement, in deep indoor environment, etc.) Under these conditions, the distance between the meter and the gateway cannot be longer than a few hundred (300..700) meters. The only solution to this challange is to build a more dense network of gateways. LoRaWAN has been designed to scale even at the size of a country and can collect data through thousands of gateways.

If you accept the limitations (1-2 msg per day, distance ~500m) of LoRaWAN, then I would recommend you buying one of the existing LoRaWAN pulse sensors that has been tested on the field and is already part of the LoRaWAN ecosystem. There are plenty of those on the market.

LoRaWAN is one of the best technologies for collecting data from water meters. This is because LoRaWAN networks operate in sub gigaherz bands and apply low (~14dBm) TX power. This enables long (even 8-10 years) battery life if the meters report their counter only one or 2 times a day. However, bridging 10-20km distance for water meters is not realistic at all. (In theory, if you have line of sight and both the meter and the gateway use special, high gain antennas, it may work, but such solution would not scale.) In practice, water meters are installed at problematic locations (underground in a water meter shaft, in the basement, in deep indoor environment, etc.) Under these conditions, the distance between the meter and the gateway cannot be longer than a few hundred (300..700) meters. The only solution to this challange is to build a more dense network of gateways. LoRaWAN has been designed to scale even at the size of a country and can collect data through thousands of gateways.

If you accept the limitations (1-2 msg per day, distance ~500m) of LoRaWAN, then I would recommend you buying one of the existing LoRaWAN pulse sensors that has been tested on the field and is already part of the LoRaWAN ecosystem. There are plenty of those on the market.

LoRaWAN is one of the best technologies for collecting data from water meters. This is because LoRaWAN networks operate in sub gigaherz bands and apply low (~14dBm) TX power. This enables long (even 8-10 years) battery life if the meters report their counter only one or 2 times a day. However, bridging 10-20km distance for water meters is not realistic at all. (In theory, if you have line of site and both the meter and the gateway use special, high gain antennas, it may work, but such solution would not scale.) In practice, water meters are installed at problematic locations (underground in a water meter shaft, in the basement, in deep indoor environment, etc.) Under these conditions, the distance between the meter and the gateway cannot be longer than a few hundred (300..700) meters. The only solution to this challange is to build a more dense network of gateways. LoRaWAN has been designed to scale even at the size of a country and can collect data through thousands of gateways.

LoRaWAN is one of the best technologies for collecting data from water meters. This is because LoRaWAN networks operate in sub gigaherz bands and apply low (~14dBm) TX power. This enables long (even 8-10 years) battery life if the meters report their counter only one or 2 times a day. However, bridging 10-20km distance for water meters is not realistic at all. (In theory, if you have line of site and both the meter and the gateway use special, high gain antennas, it may work, but such solution would not scale.) In practice, water meters are installed at problematic locations (underground in a water meter shaft, in the basement, in deep indoor environment, etc.) Under these conditions, the distance between the meter and the gateway cannot be longer than a few hundred (300..700) meters. The only solution to this challange is to build a more dense network of gateways. LoRaWAN has been designed to scale even at the size of a country and can collect data through thousands of gateways.

If you accept the limitations (1-2 msg per day, distance ~500m) of LoRaWAN, then I would recommend you buying one of the existing LoRaWAN pulse sensors that has been tested on the field and is already part of the LoRaWAN ecosystem. There are plenty of those on the market.