A Critical Review of Low-Cost Internet of Things (IoT) Architectures for Water Quality Monitoring: Hardware Trends, Communication Protocols, and Performance Challenges (2020–2025)

Abstract

Providing a safe and permanently monitored source of water is considered a major challenge the world is still grappling with, especially in developing countries where laboratory facilities are very limited. The traditional way of determining the quality of water, though highly precise, has been dependent on laborious sampling and analysis in laboratories, which is not ideal for real-time monitoring in different applications. The availability of microcontrollers has led to a rise in the development of Internet of Things (IoT)-assisted solutions that facilitate the autonomous collection and transmission of essential information on water quality.