GE-International Journal of Engineering Research

ISSN(O): 2321-1717, ISSN(P): 2394-420X

Impact Factor- 5.613, Volume 6, Issue 5, May 2018
Website- www.aarf.asia, Email : editor@aarf.asia , editoraarf@gmail.com

AUTOMATED WATER LEVEL CONTROLLER

Ahmad M. Y. Jumba
Department of Electrical Electronic Engineering Technology, Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi,
Nigeria.

Bala Hussaini
Department of Electrical Electronic Engineering Technology, Jigawa State Polytechnic
Dutse, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Water is an essential ingredient for daily life and a scarce natural resource despite its usage.
The excessive water usage either for domestic, commercial or industrial purposes, coupled
with Man-made climatic change and pollution has led to water shortage; hence, previous
civilizations have vanished from lack of water (due to droughts). To control and manage the
utilization of water at different sectors, electronic system was designed by using discrete
component known as an analog device. The shortcoming of most of this discrete components-
based system is two levels, to obtain a multiple levels system a microcontroller has to be
employed. This research works with a microcontroller based multi levels water supply and
control device with alarm and digital display which was designed and implemented for
suitable residential, commercial and industrial users.

Keywords: Water, Microcontroller, Pollution, shortage

1.0 Introduction

The world today is facing an excessive water usage either for domestic, commercial or
industrial purposes. It is a scarce natural resource, coupled with Man-made climatic change
and pollution that can lead to water shortage. Previous civilizations have vanished from lack
of water (due to droughts). Some researchers believe the third world war may erupt due to the

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 16
usage of water and therefore; it is, important to properly use and manage our water usage in
different sectors in order to sustain our environment. To control and manage the utilization
of water at different sectors, electronic system was designed by using discrete component
known as an analog device. The shortcoming of this system is rectifying the usage of digital
electronics, particularly the microcontroller-based system.
The microcontroller-based instrument has quickly proved superior to their analog
counterparts, such digital systems enjoyed advantaged of extending fast processing, easier for
storage that goes beyond ease of measurement of signal processing and programming. They
also allow more rational and effective organization of the countless measurement now
required in both domestic and industrial applications.

1.1Background Information

1.2 Principal of Operation

This research work was designed and implemented by using the microcontroller water supply
and control device with alarm and digital display for residential, commercial and industrial
users. The system was designed to have five levels i.e. 100%, 75%, 50%, 25% and 0%. The
pump will come ON when the Water level 25% remaining with an alarm when the level is
lower than the setpoint.

2.0 Literature Review

Water supply and control device were designed in the past with a limited number of
applications, such as two levels indication of water level inside the reservoir (that is the full
and empty level of the water). This approach gives the user very limited information about
the water level inside the tanks. The user will not know whether the water level inside the
tank is empty, quarter or half. To limit or economize his consumption against running out of
the water completely Abdullahi (2013) have designed and achieved a microcontroller-based
water level detector with digital display. Yusuf (2013) has also achieved a portable water
level indicator, that can be used to detect level of water outside home and at river depth to
alert people on the eminent danger of flooding. Similarly, Namuye (2016) had also designed
a water level indicator by using raspberry pi, in which multiple levels were achieved and
results were displayed by the raspberry pi in terms of exactly percentages.
Another study on water level was microcomputer base diesel level detector; a
microcomputer was used to display the level of diesel inside a reservoir by using Graphic

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 17
User Interface (GUI) that convert the output of diesel level analog to digital format so that it
can interface with the microcontroller. But it’s too complex and costly. Microcontroller based
water supply and control with the digital display were designed with the above mentioned in
mind.
However, the problem of the probe in water was tackled through using variable
carbon resistor which was placed outside the container, as the water level rise and fall, using
floating ball, will converts linear displacement to resistance. The resistance is converted to
voltage then amplifier using an op-amp to interface with the microcontroller. This could
detect a very small change irrespective of the type of the container used.

2.1 Level Sensor

The level sensor is used to detects the level of water that flow to become essentially in the
container (e.g. other physical boundaries) the substance to be measured can be inside a
container or can be in its natural form (e.g. rivers or lake). There are many physical
approaches to level sensor detection and control which include magnetic and mechanical
float, ultrasonic, capacitance, optical interface, hydrostatic pressure and air bubble to mention
just a few of them. But for optimal monitoring level monitoring for a domestic, commercial
and industrial process the selection criteria include. Physical phase is temperature, pressure or
vacuum. While chemistry consideration is the dielectric constant of the medium, density
(specific gravity), acoustical or electrical noise and Mechanical criteria include tank shape
and vibration. It is also important to design a sensor that provides a shield that protects the
float from turbulence or wave motion and it can also operate with a wide variety of liquid.
In practice, a program was designed to enable interfacing the sensor with the micro-
controller, while the micro-controller provides the input signal to the liquid crystal display,
alarm, and the pump control.

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 18
2.2 The Interface relay

This is an electromagnetic device consisting of a coiled solenoid surrounding a magnetic core

that operates a set of electric contacts, in small size and such devices are called contactors.
Relay finds application in an automatic control system, in remote control of light, heating
control, Automatic load control, and overload protection. When the electromagnetic is
energized by a current passing through the coil the amateur is attracted to the magnetic core
thereby closing the relay contact, when de-energies the contact are opened by a spring hence
the relay act as an electromagnetic switch. Thus, the relay has two main purposes: -

i. The interface relay enables a large circuit and voltage circuit to be controlled by a
small current and voltage circuit.
ii. It also enables control circuit to be isolated from the controlled circuit.

2.3 Microcontroller
This is mainly referred to as the heart or brain of the system as a whole. It is responsible for
controlling the on/off of the motor and alarm, also feeding the LCD with signal to display the
exact replica of the contains of the tanks, in summary, it controls the whole system, the
microcontroller is a standalone computer, optimized for control applications, the entire
processor, memory and input/output interface are located on a single piece of silicon, so it
takes less time to read and write to external device.
The PIC (peripheral interface controller) is the integrated circuit which was developed
to control peripheral device, alleviating the load from the main CPU (central processing unit).
The PIC like the CPU, has calculating functions and memory, and it is controlled by a
software, however, the throughput and the memory capacity are low depending on the kind of
PIC, the maximum clock operating frequency is about 4MHz and the memory capacity (to
write a program) ranges from 1K to 4k word.

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 19
3.0 Methodology

DISPLAYING UNIT

CONTROLLING
UNIT

SENSING
UNIT MOTORIZING
UNIT

RESERVIOR/ POWER SUPPLY UPPER TANK

LOW TANK

Figure 1: Block Diagram of the system

3.1 Memory Organization

There are three memory blocks of the PIC6F876A microcontroller device, which are the
program memory and data memory which have separate buses so that concurrent access can
occur and EEPROM memory.

3.2 Program Memory

The PIC16f876A have 13-bit program counter capable of addressing 8K word ×14 program
memory space. The devices also have 8K word ×14bit of flash programmable memory.

3.3 Data Memory

The data memory is partitioned into four multiple banks which contain general purpose
register (GPR) and the special function register (SFR), we can select any bank through bit
RP0 and RP1from STATUS register. Each bank extent up to 7FH (128 bytes) with lower
locations is for special function registers and the upper is for general purpose registers. The
file register can access either directly or indirectly through the file select register (FSR) which
is indirect data memory address pointer.

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 20
3.4 Power Supply Unit

The operator of most electronic equipment requires Voltage, in Nigeria the readily available
domestic Power is an outlet, a conversion of this alternating current into unidirectional is
therefore necessary. The stage involves include transformation (step down), rectification,
filtering and voltage regulation

3.5 Step Down Transformer

This is used to step down the alternating voltage from the higher voltage to lower voltage
without a change in frequency, in this case, the to a step down to, which is then rectify and
regulated.

220V
15v
50Hz

Figure 2: Step down Transformer

3.6 The Rectification

D1 D3

D4 D2

Figure 3: Rectification Circuit

The required output voltage is

Diode voltage to turn on is

For the two diode that conduct at each half cycle of the rectifier circuit we have

The transformer secondary output voltage

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 21
3.7 Filtering Capacitor
To smoothen the ripple of the output voltage waveform of the rectification a capacitor is
used, and the waveform is shown below

Figure 4: The Filter DC output

Ripple voltage

Output current of the regulation

Supply frequency

Capacitor of filtering capacitor

Choosing ripple voltage factor of the peak voltage

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 22
The ripple voltage is given by

3.8 Oscillator

The crystal or ceramic resonator are divided into frequency range

LP lower power crystal

XT crystal/ceramic resonator

HS high speed crystal/ceramic

RC resistor/capacitor

For this project the HS high speed crystal/ceramic is used

F= 1/1.1Re

4m = 1/1.1100KC

C = 2.5 ×10 -11 = 0.25pF.

Since the sink and the source maximum voltage is and , respectively.

Assuming the current of

= 4.2KΩ

Choosing the current of

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 23
3.9 Pump Control
AC
12V 12V
Supply
R2

R1
MCU

Water
Rb
Pump

Figure 5: Pump Control unit

When the input signal to PIC 817 is low from the microcontroller the relay will not be
energized (Normally Open) mode while, When the input signal to PIC817 is high from the
microcontroller the transistor will saturate to energize the relay into (Normally Closed) mode.
The switch will make contact and the pumping machine will come ON Choosing the current
of which within range of current specified by the component manufacturer.

= 2.2KΩ

3.10 Switching Unit

Rc

Rb
Q VCE
1.0k
VBE

Figure 6: Switching Unit

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 24
The input can be express as

The diode place across the relay is commutative diode to protect the circuit from back

3.11 Sensing Unit

5V

2.2k 5V

MCU
10k
2.2k
15k
3.3k

Figure7: Sensing Unit

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 25
For the highest value read from the sensor

For lower value read from the sensor

We need a gain of 5.5 to amplifier the voltage to the desired level

We assumed

While the variable resistor place before the microcontroller is for precision.

3.12 Pump Parameters

Pump power = 0.5HP
Suction max =8m
Discharge Head max = 40m
Flow 40L/min.
Inlet & outlet 1’×1’
Voltage A.C 240V

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 26
4.0 Test and discussion of result
The various section of the design which are sensing unit, display unit (LCD) unit, switching
unit (water pump control) unit, buzzer (alarm) unit, and microcontroller unit, where
connected to verify the performance. As expected, certain parameters changed, and some
modification was made in the design values, such modification includes the addition of some
variable resistor and operational amplifiers to the sensing unit to increase the sensing effect
and precision.

4.1 Power Supply Testing

The power supply unit of and was tested for the voltage output under no-load and full-
load condition.
At no-load, the voltage of and section was measured to be while that of supply
section was measured to be:
At full load, the respective corresponding voltage measured and
The percentage voltage regulation is given as

For supply

For supply

The performance of the supply is thus satisfactory since the percentage voltage regulations of
the supplies voltage are low.

4.2 Software Testing

The software was writing using assembly language, the program consists of the program
memory and data memory, program was written for clock operation, keypad set/reset LCD
display, pump control, alarm and the sensing unit, the programmed was debugged several
times for error and correction. The programmed was then run and was perfectly working; the
test was done using the PICDE Simulator for PIC 16F876A microcontroller.

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 27
4.3 Hardware Testing

The hardware component was assembled on the breadboard and later transfer to Vero board,
all connection was checked carefully with the used of digital multi-meter to make sure all
connection was made correctly to avoid short-circuiting of the system.

4.4 The Working Principle

The working principle is tabulated to ease the understanding of the working operation of the
project

Table 1: Working Principle of the System

Higher Tank Water Pump State Buzzer(Alarm)

100% OFF OFF
75% ON OFF
50% ON ON
25% ON ON Continues
0% ON ON Continues

5.0 Conclusion
The aim of the project is to design and implement a microcontroller based automatic water
supply and control device with alarm and digital display system to be installed for domestic,
commercial and industrial used. The system has been realized to be usable with the device
that was found to be working properly based on its design and relatively cheap components
involved in its realization. Thus, the aim of the project can be said to have been achieved.

References
Abdullahi, M.A (2012): Design and Construction of Microcontroller based Water Level
Detector with Digital Display. Unpublished thesis Submitted to Electrical Electronics
Engineering Department Federal Polytechnic Bauchi in Partial fulfilment of High National
Diploma.
Attia, H. A, Getu, B.N (2016): Automatic Water Level Sensor and Controller System. 6-8
Dec. 2016 IEEE Conference Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
Beza N.G, Attia H. A, (2015) Automatic Control of Agricultural Pumps Based on Soil
Moisture Sensing, Proceedings of the IEEE AFRICON 2015 Conference, pp. 667-671, 14-17
September.

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 28
Boylestad, R.L, Nashelsky, L. (1996): Electronic Devices and Circuit Theor. Prentice Hall,
London.
Forrest, M.M, (1984): Getting Started in Electronic. Oxford University press Inc
New York, United States.
Green, D. C. (1982): Digital Electronics Technology. Pitman Publishing Ltd. New Zealand.
Namuje, S (2016): Water Level Indicator Using Raspberry Pi. A Mini Project Submitted to
United States International University Africa.
Water and Jobs the United Nations World Water Development Report, 2016, [online]
Available: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002439/243938e.pdf.
Yusuf, M.S (2013): Portable Water Level Indicator. Unpublished Thesis Submitted in Partial
Fulfilment of Requirement for The Bachelor Degree of Electronic Engineering (Industrial
Electronic) Fakulti Kejuruteraan Elektronik dan Kejuruteraan Komputer Universiti Teknikal
Malaysia Melaka.

© Associated Asia Research Foundation (AARF)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories.
Page | 29