Cost-Effective IoT-based Solution for Water Monitoring and Regulation

Urbanisation and population growth brings forth a myriad of concerns and challenges, including water consumption efficiency and water scarcity. In order to combat the rising issue of water scarcity, a well-organised water management and regulation system needs to be developed. This work presents a cost-effective solution to aid this problem, by making use of affordable components, such as ESP32, YF-S201 water flow sensors and solenoid valve for water monitoring and regulation. The objective of this system is to provide a personalised water quota for each household, monitor and regulate their usage, and ensure efficient water consumption using real-time data. The system also incorporates a GSM SIM800L module which is used to connect to AWS IoT Core to send the water usage data to the cloud, to be stored in AWS DynamoDB. Regulation is automated using a pre-set threshold, determined by a formula that factors in elements such as the number of people in a household, the number of appliances, the climate of the region, etc., ensuring a personalised water threshold for each user. The system determines when to stop and resume water supply using the pre-set threshold. The system aims to encourage efficient water usage and spread awareness about water consumption. The developed module saves 20%-30% of water consumption per week, while displaying the approximate location of a pipe burst when detected, using the NEO-6M module.