Water transport and distribution systems must be carefully monitored and operated to avoid water losses, to safe energy and to protect the assets of the water utilities against damages. In major water transport and distribution systems this task is performed by centralized SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems which receive information from remote sensors and remotely control components like valves and pumps. SCADA systems are technically complex and expensive. For this reason, they often are not achievable for small water utilities which do have to operate their transport lines and distribution networks manually. Recent developments in ICT (Information and Communications Technology) open new paths for technologically advanced, low-cost solutions for water system monitoring and control. In the first place it is the decentralized IoT (Internet of Things) approach which already gained significant importance in the industrial sector but is still in an embryonal stage considering water utilities. To explore the promising potential of IoT technologies in combination with other innovative ICT the IoT.WATER project sets up an interdisciplinary consortium, bringing together the expertise needed for this task: •The Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Turbomachinery of the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Germany (SAM) is specialized in optimization of machine design, condition monitoring and decision support for optimized operation of hydraulic and thermal turbomachinery. SAM will act as project coordinator. •The Centro de Pesquisas Hidráulicas e Recursos Hídricos of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil (CPH) is a hydraulic research center dedicated to support the energy and water supply sectors, with a team of professors on the fields of civil, mechanical, electrical and automation engineering. •The research group HECE of Liege University conducts experimental and numerical research in hydraulic engineering. The group has been developing the modelling system WOLF, which enables the computation of pressurized, free surface and mixed flow in channel and pipe networks. The flow models are coupled to self-developed optimization algorithms. WOLF is routinely used for teaching, research and consultancy. •The MIND research group from INSA Rouen Normandie, France (MIND) conducting research in the fields of Multi-Agent Systems, Semantic Technologies and Human-Machine Interactions. Focus is the study and development of interaction and decision-making processes in mixed communities or in cyber-physical systems. •The Dr. Kraetzig Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Aachen, Germany (KI) as a SME engineering company with expertise in setting up distributed monitoring and control networks for environmental control, water system optimization and water loss reduction. The project proposal follows a systematic approach starting with high time resolution measurements in water systems (already based on IoT technology), numerical description and characterization of the water systems, adaptation and development of hydraulic models suitable for near-real-time simulation, development of tools for implementation in IoT nodes for optimizing of component operation (e.g. pump operation / condition monitoring) and for supporting decision making (e.g. energy efficient management, alarm generation in case of incidents etc.), testing and system comparison by use of “water system digital twins” and physical water system models. The overall IoT system will be installed in systems in Belgium, Brazil and Germany for extended field testing. Further application in other water utilities will be supported by documentation of the used methodology. The outcome of the project will be a new ICT approach for low-cost water system monitoring and operation. This system will contribute to water loss reduction, backing the efforts against impacts of water scarcity, simpler maintenance strategies and strengthening of water systems resilience against havocs.