Water Level Indicator Cum Notifier

Water level indicator cum notifier is a device which continuously monitors the level of water in the water tank and notifies you if needed. It notifies you if the tank is full or empty so that you can turn on or off the pump to stop wastage of water and unexpected water shortage.

• After installing this device you won't need to worry about water wastage or water shortage.
• It continuously monitors the level of water in the water tank and plot a graph showing the current level of water.
• It also indicate the level by showing Full, Enough, Low and Very Low on the LCD.
• If you are filling the water tank, then at Full level (before over flow) it will inform you by Siren sound and it won't stop the siren sound until you turn off the pump. So feel free to do other works when you turn on the pump and stop worrying about water wastage
• If water level is below Very Low level then it will also inform you by siren sound and display Turn On Pump. The siren won't stop until the water limit is above Very Low level.

MATERIALS :

Note: The ultrasonic sensor(HCSR04) started corroding due to water vapor so I replaced it with a waterproof sensor like this one.

1. Arduino UNO (or any Arduino compatible board)
2. LCD
3. Ultrasonic sensor (preferably waterproof)
4. Speaker (preferably smaller one than what I have)
5. On/off push button (if not available then also fine. It is only to turn ON/OFF the backlighting of LCD)
6. Power supply
7. Connecting wires (Female to female jumper wires)
8. A Long wire for connecting ultrasonic sensor with the Arduino (Length depends on the distance between controller board and sensor)

TOOLS :

1. Soldering iron (if not available then also it's fine)
2. Electronic multimeter
3. Wire stripper
4. Drill machine
5. Glue
6. A computer

Follow the image given above to connect ultrasonic sensor, LCD, button, speaker and arduino all together.

LCD:

• Vss - GND
• Vdd - +5v
• Vee - GND
• rs - 4 (arduino pin number)
• rw - 5
• enable - 6
• D4 - 8
• D5 - 9
• D6 - 10
• D6 - 11
• Anode(pin 15 of LCD) - +5v
• Cathode(pin 16 of LCD) - button

Ultrasonic Sensor :

• Vcc - +5v
• Trig - 3 (arduino pin number)
• Echo - 2
• GND - GND

Speaker :

• +ve pin - A5 (arduino pin number)
• -ve pin / GND - GND

Button :

• pin 1 - cathode pin of LCD
• pin 2 - GND

We are going to mount ultrasonic sensor on the cap of the water tank. For this purpose drill two holes as shown in the image to pass the cylindrical part (Receiver and Transmitter) of the sensor through it. Water tank in my house is placed on the roof so I used a very long wire as you can see in the image.

Now mount the sensor and wire it (Vcc, Trig, Echo, GND) and also place a plastic top on it and seal it using glue or glue gun so as to make it water proof.

NOTE :

• Drill an extra hole on the water tank top (not shown in the image), because in summer season water vapor will condense in the inner side of the water tank cap and may damage the sensor or interfere with the reading.
• Use four strands of wire because there are four pins in the sensor.
• If you are not experienced with the drill machine then take some help from the elders.

• Use a project box to assemble all the components and keep the mouth of the speaker outside of the box so that you can hear the siren clearly and loudly.
• Also take care of padding so as to avoid short circuit.
• Connect arduino to the computer and upload given program.
• In the program you may need to change some variables. Its all mentioned in the program.

If you do everything as instructed in this instructable you will surely make it and save some water. So Happy Making :-)