Design And Construction Of An Automatic Water Level Indicator With Overflow Alarm

1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
This work is titled design and construction of Water Level Indicator. It is best suited for overhead water tanks to display the amount of water. The circuit consisting of 4 LED’s used to indicate ¼, ½, ¾, full levels (with alarm indicator).
Nowadays almost everybody has overhead tank at their homes. But everyone who has a water tank above knows the kind of problems that they face. Firstly there is no system to track the water in the tank. Then there come a secondary problem that is when their water pump is started they have no idea when it gets filled up and sometimes there are situation where the pump keeps on pumping water to the tank and the water starts spilling out from the tank. There is wastage of energy as well as wastage of water.
Basically the unit is made up of various sensors acting as a switch. Let me explain in a simple way. What happens is when you turn ON your water pump, the water starts to get pumped from your underground reservoir or from your underground water supply from the pipes to your water tank. In the tank there is a set of sensors ( to be precise there are 4 sensors), in the water tank. So the water starts to get filled in the tank and when the water level in the tank starts to rise up, what happens is that the sensors that is installed in the tank starts to get activated one by one indicating the water level in the tank. And finally when it reaches to its top most sensor, there will be a visual display as well as a sound from the unit indicating that the water has filled in the tank and one can be alerted that the tank has been filled up and the water pump has to be switched off saving the electricity bill as well as over flow of water from the tank.
There are three parts in this project:-
(i) The Sensor Part
It is generally a fixed support inside the tank having some nuts and bolt with wires coming out.
(ii) The Circuit Part
It comprises the brain of the module, where in all the various inputs from the sensors are fed. It is the unit from where you will get all the information of how much of water is in the tank.
(iii) The Power Supply
It is the part where in you will be converting the A/C voltage to a regulated voltage of 12V to the Circuit.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
This device came to mitigate problems such as poor water allocation, inefficient use, and lack of adequate and integrated water management. Automatic Water level indicator system is designed to monitor liquid level in an overhead tank. This device helps the user to be aware of the water level in the tank through indicators. It is very useful because the user need not worry about the water content during the peak hours of the day. It not only helps in the daily chores but also prevents water wastage. It reduces human labour, saves time and also keeps the user updated regarding the water content.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
• To institutionalize social regulations level that govern the allocation, use and management of water for the different purposes.
• To achieve equitable and sustainable access to groundwater to all farmers through sharing of resources and socially regulated demand management of the resource.
• To achieve equitable and secure access to water for drinking, sanitation and domestic needs at affordable costs for all households or company within the project area and project period.
• To construct an electronic device that can automatically detect water level (1/4, ½, ¾ and full) with high precision.
• To monitor supply of water.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The water level alarm circuit is a simple mechanism to detect and indicate the level of water in the overhead tank and also in the other containers. Nowadays, all the householders/owners are storing the water in overhead tanks by using the pumps. When the water is stored in the tank, no one can identify the level of water and also, no one can know when the water tank will fill. Hence there is an overflow of water in the tank, thus there is a wastage of energy and water. To resolve this type of problems by using the water level alarm circuit of a CMOS IC helps and indicated the level of water in the overhead tanks

1.5 ADVANTAGES OF THE PROJECT
• Suitability: These water level controllers are ideally suited for normal water as well as for ultra low conductivity water with less than 1 micro/moh.
• Easy to Operate: this system come fitted with sensitivity setting which can be provided externally on a dial or with internal settings.
• Settings : It is equipped with technology which works on low or high sensitivity settings on the same machine and thereby saves costs of buying and using two different machines.
• Materials of Construction: this water indicator system is protected the against corrosion.
• Safety: This system is highly insulated, leakage proof and works without creating any noise.
• Save roofs
• Save water
• Save electricity

1.6 APPLICATION OF THE PROJECT
This device is used in the following:
i. overhead water tanks,
ii. swimming pool boilers,
iii. factories,
iv. chemical plants,
v. electrical substations and also in other liquid storage systems.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT
The only problem discovered in this work on the probes. Sensor probes will likely rust at a fast rate, while high mineral content in the water will likely plate to the probes enforcing failure or Causing inaccurate readings.

1.8 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The circuit consisting of 4 LED’s used to indicate ¼, ½, ¾, full levels. When the water is full, the base of the transistor BC148 is pulled high by the water and this saturates the transistor, turning the buzzer ON thereby informing the user that the tank is filled.

1.9 METHODOLOGY
A lot of design research was carried out on water level measurement. Data books were consulted to make the most suitable choice of components at the most reasonable cost.
After the design, a market survey was conducted and some components used in the design were not obtainable in the market. Hence, alternative components had to be used and the circuit redesigned. The subsequent stage involves physically realizing the design work, constructing and packaging the entire circuitry on the frame. Finally, he work was given a fine finish and tested.

1.10 PROJECT WORK ORGANISATION
The various stages involved in the development of this project have been properly put into five chapters to enhance comprehensive and concise reading. In this project thesis, the project is organized sequentially as follows:
Chapter one of this work is on the introduction to the study. In this chapter, the background, significance, application, objective, problem of the study were discussed.
Chapter two is on literature review of this study. In this chapter, all the literature pertaining to this work was reviewed.
Chapter three is on design methodology. In this chapter all the method involved during the design and construction were discussed.
Chapter four is on testing analysis. All testing that result accurate functionality was analyzed.
Chapter five is on conclusion, recommendation and references.