Brainage- Smart in-pipe Drain Monitoring System

Water is not just a word, it supports our life and it is an invaluable commodity.

These days, water is being wasted in public places, offices, and even households. According to NITI Aayog Water Management Index Report 2018, the worst water crisis in India's history is currently underway.

The solution is straightforward: A specific, lightweight item that fits beneath the washbasin easily in place of conventional drain pipe in hospital washrooms, household facilities, public restrooms, hotel utilities and corporate lavatories where sensors powered with the Internet of Things (IoT) technology would determine which water could be reused in other activities like watering plants, flushing amongst many purposes leading to conserving water.

This project is a bold step in the right direction that will surely be high-yielding for saving freshwater by reusing the water.

Design Flow

Block Diagram

Working of the project

When the system is powered ON, the connection is established between Node MCU and Amazon Web Services cloud (AWS). The Node MCU reads the value detected by the various sensors connected to it to upload it to the cloud. Further, there are three sub-tank according to the different set parameters. The water is segregated into these three containers. Based on these values, different combinations can be worked out for water segregation.

The mechanism works when the water flows down from the drainpipe it is stored in a tank which is called the "Main Tank" which includes a water monitoring system consists of 2 sensors used for monitoring water purity, i.e., Ph sensor, Turbidity Sensor, which will evaluate the water purity and give the values to NodeMCU which itself is an IoT device. Hence, the calculated purity level of water is also stored on the cloud which will eventually help in getting deeper insights into the data collected at any particular time frame. After all the readings are recorded and sent to NodeMCU and it will detect the level of contamination of the water and then the initial segregation of water starts, NodeMCU checks the purity level and then sends the signal to the motor attached to the main tank which opens the way to the tank according to the contamination level of water.

The tested water will now be divided into 3 categories, i.e., clean water, contaminated water, and turbid water.

1) The 1st container is of Contaminated Water that goes directly to the water treatment plant through an already conventional sewage system.

2) The 2nd container of Clean Water is the one that can be reused as it is because it has the least amount of impurities. This water can be stored in a tank which is further connected with sensors, i.e., water flow sensor and water sensor.

3) The 3rd container is of Turbid Water which has impurities but in lesser amounts and can be filtered out by already existing conventional methods.

To move further there are sensors connected to this tank i.e., water sensor and water flow meter. These are the same as the ones mentioned in the clean water tank. The water flow sensor is placed on the outlet of the filter tanks. Hence the turbid water and clean water can be used now for various purposes like watering plants, washing cars, etc.

Result

Conclusion

This proposed system aims to track the quality of water samples by developing a smart in-pipe drain monitoring system that can detect two essential physical parameters in wastewater: pH, turbidity.

The system is to be installed below the washbasin that segregates the water into different containers based on water purity. The level of water purity decides the usage of water in areas such as flushing, watering, gardening, etc.

The proposed smart system can be easily implemented in homes, workplaces, hospitals and classrooms, and other locations where drain water tanks are used.

Through IoT-enabled technology, data collected from the installed sensors are stored on the cloud for analysts to get deeper insights into the collected data and at any particular time frame.

By incorporating the described device in smart buildings, users would read and interpret the residents' water usage/requirements, for recycling wastewater and saving freshwater.

Image of final Project