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LOW COST WATER ALARM CIRCUIT

A Course Based Project Report Submitted To
20EC3353: MICROCONTROLLERS LAB

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
With specialization in
ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
Submitted by
K. CHAKRAVARTHI (208W1A0487)
D. V. S. AKASH (218W5A0410)

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

V.R. SIDDHARTHA ENGINEERING COLLEGE
(Autonomous)
VIJAYAWADA 520007
ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA
FEBRUARY 2022
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DECLARATION
We hereby declare that the work is being presented in this 20EC3353
MICROCONTROLLERS LAB course based project entitled as “LOW COST WATER ALARM
CIRCUIT”, submitted to wards the partial fulfillment of requirements for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering Department in V.R Siddhartha
Engineering College, Vijayawada is an authentic record of our work carried out under the supervision of
SK.KHALEEL AHMED, assistant professor in E.C.E Department, V.R Siddhartha Engineering College,
Vijayawada.

The matter embodied in this dissertation report has not been submitted by us for the award of any
other degree. Furthermore, the technical details furnished in various chapters of this report are purely
relevant to the above project and there is no deviation from the theoretical point of view for development
and implementation.

K. CHAKRAVARTHI (208W1A0487)

D.V.S. AKASH (218W5A0410)

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LIST OF CONTENTS
TITLE PG.NO
ABSTRACT II
DECLARATION III
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. REQUIREMENTS 4

2.1 HARDWARE REQUIREMENT 5

3. CIRCUIT 6

4. WORKING PROCEDURE 7

5. HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION 9

6. CONCLUSION 11
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1.INTRODUCTION

Water tank overflow is a common problem which leads to the wastage of water. Though
there are many solutions to it like ball valves which automatically stop the water flow once
the tank gets full. But being an electronics enthusiastic wouldn’t you like an electronic
solution for it? So here is a simple and handy DIY water alarm project tutorial that will guide
you to make a circuit which will detect the water level and will raise an alarm upon getting
the water tank full or a preset level.
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 4 levels (low, medium, high 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 (D). When tank gets filled completely, we get beep sound from Buzzer.
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Aim:
In this project we will be building a water level indicator using Arduino & water sensor with three levels

that consist of inside a tank with the help of 3 LED and a buzzer to indicate that the tank is full.

Objectives:

 To learn the working of a water indicator

 Measure the water level when the circuits indicate when the tank its half and full.

 To learn how to build simple circuits.

Industry-Based Applications

The water level indicator circuits are used in factories, chemical plants, and electrical substations and in

other liquid storage systems. There are many possible uses for this simple system, examples include

monitoring a sump pit (to control pump activation), rainfall detection, and leakage detection. Electronic

water level circuits have the capability of alerting if there is a water leak somewhere in the factory. When

the water level is too high or too low or exceeds the higher limit, it can detect the water level easily by

hearing an alarm sound or from different colors of a light bulb. We can also measure the fuel level in motor

vehicles and the liquid level containers which are huge in the companies.
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Project Methodology

The circuit is designed to indicate three levels of water stored in the tank: low but not empty, half and

full but not overflowing. When there is no water in the tank, all the LEDs are off as an indication that the

tank is completely empty. When water level increases and touches the sensor, the Red LED will glow

indicating that there is water within the tank. As the water level continues to rise and reaches half the tank,

Yellow LED will glow. When the water in the tank rises to full an alarm is made by the buzzer as an

indication that the tank is full.

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Components:

1. Transistor

2. Water level sensor module

3. Light-emitting diode (LED's)

4.1-Buzzer
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5.Connecting wires

6.Breadboard

Assemble LED on Breadboard

Red: (indicating extremely low level)

Blue: (indicating half water level or water flow)

Green: (indicating full water level)
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Water Tank Overflow Alarm Circuit:

The complete circuit diagram for the water overflow alarm project can be found below. As
you can see the circuit is simple and easy to build as it only has few basic components like transistors,
resistors, LEDs and a buzzer

We can consider this whole circuit as 4 small circuits, each one for indicating/alarming, when a particular
level (A,B,C,D) of water have been reached.

When water level reaches to point A, circuit with RED LED & transistor Q1 gets completed and RED LED
glows. Similarly when water level reaches to point B, circuit with YELLOW LED and transistor Q2 gets
completed and Yellow LED glows, same goes with point C. And finally when tank gets full (Point D), circuit
with buzzer gets completed and buzzer starts beeping.
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Low Water Level Alarm Circuit – Working:

Here we are using transistor (of NPN type) as a Switch. Initially there
is no voltage applied to the base of the Transistor Q1 and the transistor is in OFF state and no current is
flowing through collector and emitter and LED is OFF (See below diagram to understand Transistor Pin
structure).
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When the water level reaches to Point A in the tank, the positive
side of the battery gets connected to the base of the Transistor Q1 through the water. So when a positive
voltage has been applied to the base of the Transistor Q1, it gets into ON state and current starts flowing
from collector to emitter. And RED LED glows.
You can see resistors (R1, R2, R3) at the base of each
transistor, which is used to limit the maximum Base current. Generally a transistor gets its ON state fully
when a voltage of 0.7 V is applied to the base. There are also resistors (R4, R5, R6) with each of the LEDs,
to drop the voltage across LEDs, otherwise LED may blow up.
Same phenomenon happens when water level reaches to
Point B. As soon as water level reaches to Point B, a positive voltage gets applied to the Transistor Q2, it
gets ON and current started flowing through YELLOW LED, and LED glows. With same principle, GREEN
LED glow when water level reaches to Point C.And finally Buzzer beeps when water level reaches to D.
Note that Left most wire in the tank must be lengthier than other four wires in the tanks,
because this is the wire which is connected to positive voltage.
After putting all components on the breadboard connected to the Arduino and making sure all

components are connected students will now place the water sensor in the tank empty and then pour

the water slowly into tank.

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HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION:

Red: (indicating extremely low level)

Blue: (indicating half water level or water flow)

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Green: (indicating full water level)

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RESULT: The experimental model was made according to the circuit diagram and the
results were as expected.

CONCLUSION: This system is very beneficial in rural as well as urban areas. It helps in
the efficient utilization of available water sources. If used on a large scale, it can provide a
major contribution in the conservation of water for us and the future generations. In these
days, when Earth's reserve of consumable water is decreasing every moment, every drop has
its value. Water level controller is a simple yet effective way to prevent wastage of water. Its
simplicity in design and low cost components make it an ideal piece of technology for the
common man.

FUTURE WORK: The water level controller designed in this project can be used to control
water flow. However, there is no way of knowing whether the source of water, which in this
case is the UGT, actually has water or not. If no water source is present, then the submersible
pump would start running unnecessarily and overheat itself. This could be taken care by
implementing another sensor. Also, the rate of water input must always be equal to or greater
than the rate of water output. To make this happen we could use a speed regulator. If these
issues are taken care of then a more efficient and reliable performance can be achieved.