An ultrasonic wave transmitter and an ultrasonic wave receiver are disposed in a tank in any positional relation to each other so long as the wave transmission and wave reception surface do not face each other to check whether the liquid level in the tank is above a predetermined level. When both the wave transmitter and wave receiver are submerged in the liquid in the tank, a wave radiated from the wave transmitter can be received by the wave receiver because of the facts that the directivity angle of the wave from the transmitter is large in the liquid and the wave propagates through the liquid without attenuation. When the liquid level decreases and becomes lower than either of the wave transmitters or wave receiver that is at an upper level, a wave from the transmitter can no longer be received by the receiver. This principle is utilized for the liquid level detection.