With the summer months,it would be nice to have a dog water bowl, which alerts me when the water is low
I already have a whisker feeder robot, two of them, which I love
Both my dogs love it
That's just a leak sensor on reverse. I know there are a few leak sensors with a wired probe instead of it being built into the body. That way the probe can sit submerged in water most of the time.
Give that a go
Exactly. If it were a cat I'd say drop a Aqara water sensor right in the bowl as they are rounded and flat. But some silly dog would probably eat the device 
I do this for my pond as well. Just be aware the battery drain is quite high when it's in wet state compare to dry. I ended up hardwired the power to the sensor due to the battery drain.
I remember reading this thread on the ST community with ideas to solve outdoor water bowl
This wired to a HA device that takes direct wiring of dry contacts or hack one of the numerous door/window switches and connect this across. I'll dig up one of those threads if you show interest. For a dog it would probably make sense to have a bigger bowl where you could isolate this float under some chicken wire or similar protective "housing".
Actually, there's more there to be had if you had some snazzy multi-terminal HA device that you could also plug this into - " Integrated 10K ohm NTC thermistor allows monitoring of liquid temperature as well. "
i've thought about doing something like this before for a coffee machine. it utilized a float sensor to detect the water level, and a z-wave water valve controller to turn water on/off to refill. i ultimately scrapped the idea as the machine i was going to do it on broke, but it's possible.
also, not sure if i would trust the automation of water dispensing as if there's a delay in the off command, it can overflow the reservoir, and depending on where it's placed, could cause damage.
Thank you all for the great ideas.
The purpose what I would use it for, is to just get an alert with Pushover to my phone, or slack, or something like that. Or even going further, if that possible (might not be able to, since Amazon or Google is pretty much locked down, is to send a voice message/notification to Alexa or Google).
So either a notification, or a light flickering.
I work from home, and during the day, the dogs go in and out (unless it gets too hot and humid in Michigan). So if I am busy with my work, I don't always check the dog's water. I don't mind getting up, and refilling their water. So I wouldn't need to do automatic dispensing of the water. But that would be an awesome IoT product to build and patent. (and make it not a cloud-based product).
I would be definitely interested in what you suggest
Per your interest in a DIY solution, here's links on using the contact sensors.
There are other such threads in the Forum. I personally like the option of soldering to the magnetic reed switch ends...easier safer target. (One project I pulled switch out...don't bother.)
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You can also use buttons or just about anything that allows inputs via something physically contacting. I've had varied success with device brands and types. As an example, I was trying to use a Xiaomi contact sensor that worked fine at my old house where I installed a doorbell button when there hadn't previously been one, but the same contact sensor often failed to register a button press in our current home where a doorbell button already existed. I suspect this is due to the heavier gauge wiring used here, resulting in a much higher resistance.
I came across an IKEA Styrbar button for $4.50 at Habitat for Humanity and it works perfectly in this scenario and was easy to solder wires to the button solder pads, and a 5v to 3v buck converter to the battery terminals. What's particularly nice about this button controller for my use is the fact that it's meant to be a dimmer, so I can trigger off both press and long press to insure I get an event, regardless of how someone presses the doorbell button.
NOTE: I don't have the IKEA Styrbar button joined to HE directly. I have HA with Zigbee to MQTT, and then I use the HE to HA integration to trigger an HE virtual switch so Rule Machine can trigger an Alexa Routine to announce someone is at my door and send notifications to our phones. I cannot stress enough how great it is to have this capability. There are so many devices supported by Z2M, and having both HE as well as HA with Z2M makes it so convenient to be able to buy and use just about any Zigbee device I want and have it just work without issues.
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Another approach would be to electronically weigh the bowl. I’m not proposing this as a solution just an idea the doesn’t intrude into the water.
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If someone can show me how to do this, I'd be all over it. I feel like crap when I look down and see my dog's bowl has gone dry.
EDIT: I suppose there's this...
Or if you just don't care how your home looks 
LOL. Was just searching and came across this pet water bowl. It's not connected, but take a look at the paragraph under the heading "The era of non-inductive electricity for pet water dispensers"
since water is conductive, you could look into a gravity water bowl, and put 2 probes in the bottom of the bottle. then when the water drops below the probes (open contact), you can have your rules kick in. of course would need to make sure the probes are stainless steel to not impede the water quality, and properly seal after putting in the probes
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Hummm, this is tempting to experiment with for larger tanks as well.
I know there are off-the-shelf probes and water sensors but I wonder if you could take a segment of ridge 3/8s" copper tubing and line it with some narrow non-conductive tubing, then insert a copper wire down the center to the bottom where water would "close the circuit"; then connect your wires up top.
Wonder if the resistance and continuity would be such that this would work (and not be a big battery consumer in the contact switch).
The length would allow you to set the level at which you would be notified.
Our neighbors have something like this for when their dog needs to go outside... works great.
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If it is a large bowl of water you can get a large dial scale and a smart contact sensor.
Put a small hole on the magnet and put it on the dial needle and place the contact sensor on the scale reading. Then place a large bowl of water on the scale.
I have done this with my water softener salt container. A lot heavier but same idea.
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