Water Tank Level Detection Project

We thought of doing an interesting Water Tank Level Detection Project which helps us save costly home water motors which burn due to running on empty tank.

Climate change is a problem being faced throughout the world and Pakistan is one of the worst affected countries facing water shortage. To conserve water, the relevant authorities sometimes schedule the water supply or at times there is a lack of supply which results in empty water tanks in houses.

Majority of the houses in Urban Areas of Pakistan have 2 water tanks i.e underground and overhead. The Underground water tank is connected to the main water power supply.

A water pump or commonly referred to as the water motor is used to pump the water to the overhead water tank which is then used for the water supply throughout the house.

One of the major causes of Motor getting faulty is because of running it on an empty water tank. Almost no one picks up the heavy underground water tank lid to check if it contains water thus causing wasteful expenditure in motor replacement cost. We recently incurred this cost. 🙁

So this weekend Abzy and I (his dad) did a collaborative fun project to address the issue.

In this project we:

• solved a real world problem
• saw a practical example of mathematical measurements
• got an understanding of simple circuits
• practiced soldering

Abzy took out all his relevant tools required for this project.

He has a box full of prebuild PCBs in his makerspace, the ones extracted out of various toys and projects. We found a prebuilt board which had functionality to turn on LEDs these would turn on based on the wire connected to complete the electrical path. Before proceeding we did a couple of dry runs simulating the whole thing with a small cup of water.

He had a small box luckily it was exactly the size of the PCB (print circuit board). To make it a perfect fit he drilled holes using his new Mini Drill Kit.

All the wires from the PCB were extracted from inside the holes on the boxes.

Not it was time for tank measurements and for that we used our 10 ft. measuring tape. I was able to highlight the importance of mathematical measurements and Abzy got to experience this as a practical implementation rather than studying measurements from a math book.

Parenting / teachers tip: We have experienced this methodology helps children grasp a better understanding of various concepts. Be sure to follow us on our pages at facebook and instagram to stay updated with the latest.

Our underground tank has a depth of about 5 feet. We measured the total distance and had a wire bundle which we cut into 6 shorter wires and each wire less than the other by about 1 foot. Abzy soldered them after which I helped him drop them carefully in the underground water tank.

The snapshot illustrates our complete setup and how it works in principle. We double checked our connections.

I also made a gif to illustrate how it works as you can see the lights turn off as the water level drops. No lights indicate an empty water tank.

Now everytime before turning on the Motor, we just turn on our solution and it highlights the water level. We run the Motor only when there is adequate water in our tank.

This method will ensure that our motor does not burn because of running on an empty tank. In such cases the motor needs replacement wasting time, effort and money.

We hope this project was an inspirational read and a good practical example of how parents can teach their children using a method which excites them to solve real world problems and involve them in learning new things everyday.

Such activities help avoid smartphone addiction where kids spend countless hours watching something which might not be beneficial for them. And lastly, we need to work towards water conservation practices and must raise awareness of this issue amongst our children so this matter is proactively addressed.