2014 IEEE International Symposium on Robotics and Manufacturing Automation

Design of Automatic Controlling System for Tap­

Water Using Floatless Level Sensor
i 2 3. 4 4
S.A.M. Matiur Rahman , Md. Abdullah Al Mamun , Nizam Uddin Ahamed , , N. Ahmed , Md. Sharafat Ali
4
and Md. Monirul IsIam

ICollege of Computer Science & Information System, Najran University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2Electronics Division, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka-WOO, Bangladesh
3Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26600 Pekan, Pahang, Malaysia
4School of Computer & Communication Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia
*[email protected]

Ahstract- Water is an essential resource in the world and monitoring and warning applications using sensor networks [4].
currently household drinking water is an important asset to save Another researcher proposed a design for coal mine water level
the life due to shortage of water in the earth. This paper describes measuring and monitoring system based on wireless sensor
the design and development process of an automatic control
networks [5]. One research focused on agriculture side to the
system for tap water using floatless water level sensor which can
monitor water level using sensor networks [6]. Xuange et at.,
save wastage of water without the presence of any operator
physically. This sensing system utilizes a combination of a
developed one kind of water level monitoring system using two
solenoid valve, electromagnetic relay (a type of electrical switch), IC comparators and the microprocessor interrupt function [7].
floatless level controller (61F) and electrodes (used to sense the Another literature that has emerged concerns of GSM based
watery level electrically). The developed system can automatically water level monitoring in the tank as well as in the bore well
control the water tap accordingly when level sensor can sense the system [8]. Likewise, some other research work has done to
lower level of water tank. Also, the system has ability to activate monitor the water level as well as control the wastage of water
the relay which starts solenoid valve. The entire process can using different techniques [9-11]. In general, our results are in
continue until sense the upper level of water. After that the
line with the previous research works. But, we did not find any
system deactivates the relay as well as the solenoid which can stop
related work for automatic controlling for tap-water system
the water flow through tap, when the upper level is sensed. In
summary, the developed system is able to control the water tap to
using floatless level sensor. From this point of view, we tried to
protect the wastage of valuable water by this mechanism. This develop a real-time and low-cost system.
system is low-cost compare to other commercial systems, was
tested to assess the success rate of the development. The result II. METHODS
shows an autonomous plus robust monitoring system with
satisfactory result which is relatively simple to install. The ability to closely monitor water level and to protect
water from wastage is an important issue through the fields of
Keywords- Sensor; floatless; water level; solenoid valve engineering as well as environment. Our automatic system
consists of a solenoid valve, relay, floatless level controller and
I. IN1RODUCTION electrodes. The block diagram of the designed system is given
in Fig 1.
Water is undoubtedly a precious resource which sustains
our lives. Therefore, if sustainably is not done properly then it Float less water
can be devastating to our communities [1, 2]. Overuse and El ectro Magneti c
Level cantroller
Relay
misuse of usable water are the common problem in our daily (Full & Empty
Level)
life and also we never think about repairing dripping taps.
Very often we keep water tap open to fill the bucket but we
forget to close at the right time. Sometimes we go out after
keeping water tap open (while absent mind and forget to
close), which causes a huge water miss use. However, it is
I Water R esetVoir p '------'

possible to minimize or overcome this problem, if the right

technology can be effectively introduced and applied. In this Fig, 1, Block diagram of the developed system
paper we have discussed the exact procedure of the floatless
water level sensing system to control the misuse of water. Floatless level controllers (61F) are electronic liquid level
A number of previous related research works discussed detectors used in a wide range of applications such as water
about water level monitoring system. For example, Cretaux et and sewer services for office and apartment buildings,
at., developed a system to monitor in real time water level and industrial applications for iron and steel, food, chemical,
storage variations from remote sensing data [3]. Then, Rafael et pharmaceutical, and semiconductor Industries and liquid level
at., designed a real-time measurement system for flood control for agricultural water, water treatment plants, and

978-1-4799-5765-1/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE 18

 2014 IEEE International Symposium on Robotics and Manufacturing Automation

wastewater plants [12]. When the electrodes are in contact with electrical circuit made through the liquid and the electrodes is
liquid, the circuit is closed (the liquid completes the path for retained by EB and Ec, as long as contact x2 is closed. Such
electricity to flow) and the electrical current that flows in this type of circuit made from electrode EB and a contact is called a
circuit is used to detect the level of the liquid. A variety of self-holding circuit. When the liquid level goes down below
conductive liquids can be controlled using this method. EB, the circuit opens due to breakdown of conducting path,
Detecting the resistance between the electrodes and comparing which energizes the relay R, thus contact z connected with y
it to see if it is larger or smaller than a reference resistance is side. This enables Solenoid valve and made water waterfall
used to detect the surface of the liquid. ON. In this way, relay R to be switched ON and OFF between
Normally a ground tank and an elevated tank are used for EA and EB. Fig. 4 demonstrates the timing graph of this
water supply system in office or apartment buildings. Water mechanism. Operating as simply as it does, possible
supply line is connected to ground tank for primary water applications of the floatless level controller other than liquid
storage. Then water is pumped up to the elevated tank and level control include applications as leakage detection, and
circulated to each floor. When the water level is sensed low at object size discrimination. Full setup of the system presented
the elevated tank, water is pumped up from the ground tank to in Fig. 5.
increase its level up-to a certain level (upper); then the pump
stops (Fig 2). Like elevated tanks, in this system water tap is AC Mains

automatically controlled in this manner to maintain the water

level within upper and lower limits as shown below.
R
"
.�.2

< R» Solenoid Valve

fl
Z1 OFF
H-+----1=----11"1 Upper
......
To contact H-�----"
-'" '------11_+ Lower
'�

Fig. 3. Circuit schematic of the system [l4]

Fig. 2. Elevated tanks structure for water supply [13]

I
I
:
Upper I
I

- - - - -- - +- - ------ - ---r-------- ----- --1----

I
I
- - - - - -

limit E", I
A. Tap control according to water level (Two-pole method) I
I I
I
I
I

In three-pole Method three Electrodes EA (Upper Limit), EB Loltver

E ,
------- --------,-------- ,
--------,--------
(Lower Limit) and Ec (Common) are used as shown in Fig 3. limit 5 I I I
I I I
I I
EA and EB are connected by contact x2. When electrode EA is I I

: :
get in touch with the conductive liquid (water), relay R
Time
activates and contact z connected with x side. As a result
Solenoid valve will be deactivated and made water waterfall
OFF. Even if the liquid level goes down below EA, the Fig. 4. Timing diagram of the automatic Level controller

Fig. 5. Full setup of the automatic control of water tap

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 2014 IEEE International Symposium on Robotics and Manufacturing Automation

This real-time automatic controlling for tap-water system

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
uses floatless level sensor which combines four key
The system has been implemented and tested with bucket, components: 1) tap unit or shell, 2) solenoid valve, 3) sensors
water and tap. Fig. 6 shows that a floatless water level switch and 4) the power supply source. The full specifications are
is connected with a solenoid valve via a relay. Here, the presented in Table 1. Finally, the developed system can be
solenoid valve converts the electrical energy into motion used in agriculture area, home and even public places.
which can physically start and stop the water flow. On the
other hand, the floatless level switch contains three sensors,
first one is called upper level sensor, second is lower level
I�
sensor and third one is a common sensor. Level sensors are
made by copper wires which act like electrodes and help to
make conducting path. So when lower level sensor is out of
water contact then it sense the relay to operate the solenoid
valve and start to water fall on the other hand when water is
contact with upper level sensor then it sense to stop the relay
which results solenoid valve become stop and finally able to
control/off the water fall (see flowchart in the Fig 7).

TABLE 1. SPECIFICATIONS OF THE DEVELOPED SYSTEM

Parameters Values
Types of Level Sensor Electrode (Copper Wire)
No of Level Sensor Three (03) ( Upper,lower,common) Ac:i'l,"!I.:e.d the
F10atless Level
Switch (61F)
Fit for Conductive Liquids
Source Voltage- AC220V
SolfnOlrl .�.!=I\'t'
I
Power consumption-3.2 VA
Secondary Voltage- AC8V
Two led indication for operation status
Solenoid Valve Operating voltage- AC220V I En<: J
Operation State- Open & Close
Fig. 7. F10w chart explaining the steps involved in the processing
Relay Model- MK2P
Contact capacity: lOA,250V AC
Coil voltage: 6 -220V DC,6-380V AC IV. CONCLUSION
Coil power: DC: :C::0.9W, AC: :C:: l .2VA There is huge demand for the usable water in the whole
world and thus monitoring water level to reduce the water
wastage is often a key requirement in the water stress
countries. Because in many countries water level become very
low at summer season and many water treatment plants are
depends on supply water or other resources. We hope this
small project will be partially or fully effective to solve this
problem. We used very simple, easy to get and low cost
instruments to develop the system. This work illustrates the
design and performance of a real-time water level
measurement system for automatic tap control to reduce the
wastage of supply water. The developed system mainly
highlights the functional characteristics with simple sensors
(copper wire electrodes), operating in line voltage, low- cost
production and efficient capture. The system also has the low
power consumption with high impact for the interrupted water
supply. The overall performance of the developed system was
evaluated and the resulting data were verified. However,
future research work should be directed at the development of
more sophisticated and latest technology (such as GSM) and
will overcome the current limitations.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research is partially supported by the University

Malaysia Pahang (UMP) Seed Money Research Grant, 2014
Fig. 6. Automatic controlling for tap-water system using floatless level
(No. RDU141114).

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 2014 IEEE International Symposium on Robotics and Manufacturing Automation

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