Monitoring¶
| Download |
|---|
| 1. Presentation Poster |
| 2. Code |
Water Distribution System Monitoring and Actuation¶
Another aspect to be addressed here is the water distribution system downstream from the filtration and treatment plant.
Current Situation¶
In addition to regular and ad-hoc maintenance jobs, plumbers and technicians on site have to physically travel between water junctions and key distribution points to check water pressure, and manually adjust supply valves whenever needed. These checks are done on a daily basis and take up the majority of their working time, especially given that the maintenance team consists of only 2 people.
Our Proposal¶
We propose to digitally collect water pressure and flow rate readings from key points in the pipelines, electronically actuate water valves, and continuously monitor water levels of supply tanks downstream from the treatment plant. These features would be connected to a central dashboard that can be accessed through the local network from certified/verified end devices (mobile phones, tablets, computers etc.). This solution helps:
- Reduce the physical burden on technicians by enabling remote system monitoring and actuation, instead of needing to traverse campus ground on foot.
- Increase the productivity of technicians and plumbers through reducing/eliminating time spent on traveling between monitoring and actuation pipe junctions.
- Early detection of faults and leaks in the pipelines, contributing to a more economical and responsible use of resources.
- Understand water consumption patterns and predict daily and seasonal distribution needs.
- Allow automation of water routing and distribution, leading to less workload on technicians, and freeing up more time for maintenance jobs.
Our Prototype¶
To help technicians, decision makers, local community, and other stakeholders understand how the proposed system works, we developed an interactive prototype that simulates the monitoring of water pressure, flow rate, and level values, and actuates a valve that delivers water to a sample building within the distribution grid. The prototype uses:
- An HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor as the water pressure sensor -> “Push” down to increase pressure in the system.
- A 10 kΩ potentiometer as the water flow rate sensor -> Turn the knob to increase or decrease flow rate.
- A Seeed Grove Water Level sensor as the tank level sensor -> Pour in or remove water from the model tank.
- A 2004A LCD as the system dashboard -> View sensor values and valve position.
- An MG90S micro servo motor as the pipe valve -> Rotate between a fully closed to a fully open valve.
Code¶
The code is kept very simple and just provides the readouts of the three sensors and valve position on the LCD, and actuates the micro servo motor depending on the water pressure in the system.
You can download the code here