Low-cost monitoring systems are increasingly used in urban water management, offering cost-effective solutions for water infrastructure monitoring. However, their full potential is limited by technical and socio-technological challenges. This paper highlights six key considerations for deploying low-cost monitoring systems in urban water management: technical barriers to implementation, complementarity with traditional sensing technologies, sensor reliability, added value of produced information, opportunities for democratizing data collection, and economic and environmental costs of the technology. The paper also discusses the importance of systematic documentation of experiences to lower barriers to designing, implementing, and testing low-cost sensor networks, and of assessing the economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits of low-cost sensor deployments. The paper emphasizes the need for more research on the technical and socio-technological aspects of low-cost monitoring systems, including the challenges of testing and validating these systems, the importance of modularity in system design, and the value of information provided by these systems. It also highlights the potential of low-cost monitoring systems to promote public information, education, and empowerment of non-expert communities and stakeholders. The paper also discusses the economic and environmental costs of low-cost monitoring systems, noting that while they may be cheaper initially, their long-term economic and environmental impacts are not well understood. The paper concludes that low-cost monitoring systems offer new opportunities for urban water monitoring by enhancing the production and dissemination of spatial and temporal hydrological information. However, technical barriers for implementation, testing, and integration remain. Advanced technical skills are still required to ensure scientific-grade quality of data for a given research or monitoring objective. The economic benefits of low-cost systems are promising but remain poorly documented. The environmental costs of such systems are poorly understood. To address these limitations, the paper calls for better documentation of system design processes and performance for the community of practice to learn effectively from each other. While there are broader socio-technological challenges associated with low-cost monitoring technology, the considerations highlighted in this article provide a guide for technology to reach its full potential.Low-cost monitoring systems are increasingly used in urban water management, offering cost-effective solutions for water infrastructure monitoring. However, their full potential is limited by technical and socio-technological challenges. This paper highlights six key considerations for deploying low-cost monitoring systems in urban water management: technical barriers to implementation, complementarity with traditional sensing technologies, sensor reliability, added value of produced information, opportunities for democratizing data collection, and economic and environmental costs of the technology. The paper also discusses the importance of systematic documentation of experiences to lower barriers to designing, implementing, and testing low-cost sensor networks, and of assessing the economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits of low-cost sensor deployments. The paper emphasizes the need for more research on the technical and socio-technological aspects of low-cost monitoring systems, including the challenges of testing and validating these systems, the importance of modularity in system design, and the value of information provided by these systems. It also highlights the potential of low-cost monitoring systems to promote public information, education, and empowerment of non-expert communities and stakeholders. The paper also discusses the economic and environmental costs of low-cost monitoring systems, noting that while they may be cheaper initially, their long-term economic and environmental impacts are not well understood. The paper concludes that low-cost monitoring systems offer new opportunities for urban water monitoring by enhancing the production and dissemination of spatial and temporal hydrological information. However, technical barriers for implementation, testing, and integration remain. Advanced technical skills are still required to ensure scientific-grade quality of data for a given research or monitoring objective. The economic benefits of low-cost systems are promising but remain poorly documented. The environmental costs of such systems are poorly understood. To address these limitations, the paper calls for better documentation of system design processes and performance for the community of practice to learn effectively from each other. While there are broader socio-technological challenges associated with low-cost monitoring technology, the considerations highlighted in this article provide a guide for technology to reach its full potential.