Nextriv Probe Ultrasonicultrasonic level and distance sensor

What it's for

Some things are better left untouched: corrosive chemicals in a tank, sewage in a chamber, dusty raw materials in a silo. Nextriv Probe Ultrasonic measures level and distance without contact with the medium — the transducer sends an ultrasonic pulse from above the surface and determines the distance to the liquid surface or material bed with 1 mm resolution. The sensor never touches the medium, so corrosion, build-up and measurement contamination simply disappear from the list of problems.

This is a device for anyone with "something in a tank" who wants to know how much: from the chemical and fertiliser industries through municipal services to infrastructure managers. Transducer variants cover ranges up to 5 m and up to 10 m, with temperature compensation that stabilises readings in direct sunlight and through daily swings — and for snow and soft materials there is a dedicated variant tuned for slopes, roads and large-area roofs. For shorter distances and smaller tanks, the natural choice is Nextriv Probe Ultrasonic Compact.

Installation practice is simple: the measuring beam covers a cone of roughly 60° in front of the transducer, so keep about 30 cm of clearance from the tank walls, aim the transducer perpendicular to the measured surface and avoid the vicinity of the inlet, where splashing distorts the echo. The rest is the familiar Probe-family formula: a battery-powered IP67, UV-resistant transmitter, up to 10 years without a battery change and configuration via NFC from a phone or USB-C from a computer — a measurement point you set up in fifteen minutes exactly where it's needed, with no power and no cables.

Beyond classic thresholds, the sensor has a sudden-change alarm: a rapid water rise in a channel or a jump in tank level generates an immediate notification, independent of the regular reporting rhythm.

Use cases

• Chemical / liquid fertiliser tank: non-contact measurement from above the liquid surface — no component corrodes in the medium, and the stock level shows up in the app instead of on a ladder at the sight glass.
• Fuel and oil depot: levels in storage tanks reported automatically. A minimum threshold triggers an order with the supplier before the tank runs dry.
• Storm channel / river: a transducer mounted on a bridge or culvert measures the level from above, with nothing installed in the current — a quick flood-warning point with a sudden-change alarm.
• Silo and bulk raw material store: distance to the surface of the bed converted into stock on hand. No more tapping silo walls or peering through the hatch.
• Waste management: a sensor under the lid of a large container measures the fill level — collections go to full containers, not by a rigid schedule.
• Ski resort / winter maintenance: the dedicated soft-material transducer variant measures snow-cover depth from a structure above the surface — objective data for decisions on snowmaking, sending out the ploughs or relieving a roof.

Key features

• Fully non-contact measurement — safe for corrosive and fouling media; nothing corrodes, nothing gets coated.
• Range variants up to 5 m and up to 10 m — from drums to tall silos; a dedicated variant for snow and soft materials.
• Temperature compensation — a stable reading in direct sunlight and through daily swings.
• ±1% of range accuracy at 1 mm resolution — enough for stock accounting and detecting slow losses, e.g. leaks.
• Threshold alarm + sudden-change alarm — early warning of rising levels or a rapid loss.
• IP67 and UV resistance — year-round outdoor operation for years.
• Up to 10 years on a replaceable high-capacity battery — zero infrastructure at the tank.
• 1000-entry memory with retransmission after connectivity outages; configuration via NFC from a phone or USB-C from a computer.
• Mounting on a wall, post/mast or DIN rail (optional kit) — transducer aimed perpendicular to the measured surface.

In the Nextriv system

Four thresholds per metric cover both ends of the scale: minimum stock (a warning level for planning deliveries, a critical one before production stops) and maximum level (a rising-level warning, an alarm before overflow). Notifications via SMS, push, e-mail, Microsoft Teams or Discord, and through the webhooks integration the event reaches your ordering system; escalations make sure critical alarms get a response, while event statuses document how they were handled.

Level trends for multiple tanks on one dashboard show consumption rates and seasonality, and PDF reports plus XLSX/CSV exports document stock levels. The platform also detects offline devices — a measurement point at a remote tank won't drop off the network unnoticed.

Typical deployments

• Manufacturing and chemicals: raw material, fuel and process media tanks — solutions for manufacturing.
• Agriculture: silos, liquid fertiliser and water tanks — solutions for agriculture.
• Warehouses: bulk and liquid stocks with min/max thresholds — solutions for warehouses.
• Buildings and infrastructure: retention, manholes and channels — solutions for buildings.