Water Level Indicator

Michelle Batad, Ludwig Micollo Buenaflor, Charisma Zabala

Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute
University of the Philippines Diliman
Quezon City, Philippines
which means that the tank has little/no more water
inside. If LED 2 is lit up, the tank is half full and
Abstract---Water level indicator is commonly used
lastly, if LED 3 is on, the alarm will activate
today in order to detect the water-level of any water
indicating that the water level in the tank is full.
tanks/container. The circuit is quite simple,
economical and versatile. It is used to switch on the
motor pump when the level of water falls below the
Fig. 1 Circuit
lowest level in tank and also to know when to switch
Design of Water
level
the pump off when the circuit detects that the tank
Indicator
is already full. Three LED lights were used in the
Table
I
circuit, each color indicating a specific level of
shows the
[Link] the water level is at maximum, the
list
of
circuit gives an alarm to indicate that the tank is
full.
I. INTRODUCTION
Houses and buildings nowadays have water
tanks in them as the main source of water supply.
And with our modern technology, it is not surprising
that these water tanks have a built in water level
indicators in them. However, there are also others,
especially those who had their own water tanks built
long time ago without built in water level indicators
in their tanks.
Often, filling of water in tanks waste a lot of
water since it takes some time in order to fill it and
also one cant tell whether or not the tank is already
full so some people often leaves the ongoing process
and forgets to cut the water supply to the tank when it
becomes full thereby losing a large volume of water
and thus wasting energy.
This project aims to create a water level indicator
to let us detectthe level of water in our homes by
using 3 different colored LEDs to indicate a certain
level of water in the tank. It is a very simple and
cheap
II. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
A Project Description
This project is designed so that it can be used to
determine the contained amount of water in a water
tank/container. The circuit used in this project is
shown in Figure 1.
If LED 1 is on, the level of water is at the lowest

components
used in the circuit and their specification.
TABLE I. COMPONENT SPECIFICATION
Component

Specification

Power
Supply

DC, 9V

Resistor

330

LED

Red, Yellow, Green

Transistor

BC548

Buzzer

piezo buzzer

B Project Operation
The water indicator circuit was mainly driven by
the transistor component. The BC548 transistor acted
as a switch. A number of transistors manage the
operation of indicating water levels. In here, first

transistor sets the operation in determining the lowest

water level. The next transistors then follow.
Fig.
2BC
548
Pin

Three shorter wires were placed with only one end

inserted in the breadboard. Each wire end was in
series with the base of the transistors. The 9-V battery
was finally connected on the breadboard using a
battery clip. Its negative terminal was inserted in the
negative lead of the breadboard in series with the
cathode of the LEDs and its positive terminal was
inserted in the positive lead at the uppermost row of
the breadboard.
The schematic followed can be seen in Fig.2.

Configuration

The first pin or the collector of the BC548

component is connected to a source. The second pin
or the base of the transistor is connected to a wire that
has the other end on a certain water level. The third
pin or the emitter is connected to the LED. Initially,
voltage applied to the first transistor is zero; hence, it
is in OFF state. No current flows through the
collector and the LED does not light up. Upon the
touch of water on the wires, water acts as a conductor
which allows the flow of current from the source to
the base of the transistor. Positive voltage is applied
to the transistor and turns it to its ON state. Current
now flows from collector to emitter making the LED
light up. This becomes a cycle to all other transistors
once water makes contact with the wire connected to
their corresponding base. The operation of a
transistor was made possible by the semiconductors it
comprises.
C Project Construction
Three BC548 transistors were placed on the
breadboard in parallel with each other. The 330 ohm
resistors are then placed with one of its ends in series
with the collector pin of the transistor and the other
end placed on the top row of the breadboard. Each
transistor had its own resistor. Different colored
LEDs were placed with their anode end in series with
the emitter pin of the BC548 transistors. The LED
cathode end were placed in series with each other in
the negative terminal row below the breadboard. The
buzzer was then connected with its negative end
inserted in the negative terminal of the breadboard
and its positive end in series with the base of the third
transistor. A 12-inch wire was then placed having
only one of its end inserted in the breadboard. It was
placed on the uppermost row or the positive lead of
the breadboard in series with the ends of the resistors.

Fig. 3Schematic diagram of circuit

The connection of the circuit can be fully

visualized with the help of Fig. 3 below.

Fig. 4Circuit Connection

The circuit was tested with the help of a clear

container. The wire at the positive lead of the

breadboard was taped at the very bottom of the

container. The wire connected at the base of the first
transistor was taped on a higher elevation at the side
of the container. The wire of the second transistor
was taped on a higher elevation than the first
transistor's wire and the third transistor's wire goes
above the second transistor's. Water was carefully
poured in the container and it was observed that the
LEDs lit up one by one until the water level hits the
highest wire elevation initiating the buzzer sound.
The stages can be seen on Fig. 5, 6 and 7.

Fig. 7 The water reaches the highest elevation

D Problems Encountered
A problem encountered in this project is buying
of the materials/components to be used and meeting
up to construct the circuit.

Fig. 5The water reaches the first elevation

A. Division of Labor
The project was accomplished with the combined
efforts of the members of the group, each playing a
role in every aspect. The buying of the materials was
taken care by Charisma. The setting up of the circuit
was handled by all members, during their laboratory
hours and even beyond, during their vacant times.
The necessary papers were edited and compiled by
all members too, having the parts of the paper raffled
as to who will be in charge of it.

III. PROJECT APPLICATIONS

Fig. 6The water reaches the second elevation

This simple transistor based water level indicator

circuit is very useful to indicate the water levels in a
tank. Whenever tank gets filled, we get alerts on
particular levels. Here we have created 3 levels (low,
medium and full, we can create alarms for more
levels. We have added 3 LEDs to indicate initial three
levels (A, B, C), and one Buzzer to indicate FULL
level (C). When tanks gets filled completely we get
beep sound from Buzzer.
It is widely applicable in various meters and
indicators such as:
Automatic Water level Controller can be
used in Hotels, Factories, Homes
Apartments,
Commercial
Complexes,
Drainage, etc.
Automatic water level controller will

automatically START the pump set as soon

as the water level falls below the
predetermined level (usually 1/2 tank) and
shall SWITCH OFF the pump set as soon as
tank is full.
Fuel level indicator in vehicles.
Liquid level indicator in the huge containers
in the companies.

IV. CONCLUSION
Water tank overflow is a common problem which
leads to the wastage of water. This successful project
entitled Water level indicator was, a project filled
with ideas, backed up by researches, and was a

medium of learning for the members. We found

several ways of connecting circuit elements, and
learned the functions of new elements that were used
in the circuit. It encouraged us to devote time and
effort not necessarily for grades but because it
sparked the inner electricians in us.

Reference:
[1](2015) Water Level Indicator Alarm [Online].
Available:[Link]