2/11/22, 9:05 PM Automatic Water Pump Controller | Full Circuit Available

Automatic Water Pump Controller

R. Aravind & V. Pradeep Kumar

June 10, 2019

Here’s a automatic water pump controller circuit that controls the water pump
motor. The motor gets automatically switched on when water in the overhead tank
(OHT) falls below the lower limit. Similarly, it gets switched off when the tank is filled
up. Built around only one NAND gate IC (CD4011), the circuit is simple, compact and
economical. It works off a 12V DC power supply and consumes very little power.

The circuit can be divided into two parts: controller circuit and indicator circuit.

Automatic water pump controller circuit

Fig. 1 shows the controller circuit. Let us consider two reference probes ‘A’ and ‘B’
inside the tank, where ‘A’ is the lower-limit probe and ‘B’ is the upper-limit probe. The
12V DC power supply is given to probe C, which is the limit for minimum water always
stored in the tank.

Fig. 1: Automatic water pump controller circuit

The lower limit ‘A’ is connected to the base of transistor T1 (BC547), the collector of
which is connected to the 12V power supply and the emitter is connected to relay
RL1. Relay RL1 is connected to pin 13 of NAND gate N3.

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2/11/22, 9:05 PM Automatic Water Pump Controller | Full Circuit Available

Similarly, the upper-limit probe ‘B’ is connected to the base of transistor T2 (BC547),
the collector of which is connected to the 12V power supply and the emitter is
connected to pins 1 and 2 of NAND gate N1 and ground via resistor R3. The output
pin 4 of NAND gate N2 is connected to pin 12 of NAND gate N3. The output of N3 is
connected to input pin 6 of N2 and the base of transistor T3 via resistor R4. Relay RL2
connected to the emitter of transistor T3 is used to drive the motor.

Circuit operation
If the tank is filled below probe A, transistors T1 and T2 do not conduct and the
output of N3 goes high. This high output energises relay RL2 to drive the motor and it
starts pumping water into the tank.

When the tank is filled above probe A but below probe B, water inside the tank
provides base voltage to drive transistor T1 and relay RL1 energises to make pin 13 of
gate N3 high. However, water inside the tank does not provide base voltage to
transistor T2, so it does not conduct and the logic built around NAND gates N1 and
N2 outputs low to pin 12 of gate N3. The net effect is that the output of N3 remains
high and the motor continues pumping water into the tank.

When the tank is filled up to probe B level, water inside the tank still provides base
voltage to transistor T1 and relay RL1 energises to make pin 13 of gate N3 high. At
the same time, water inside the tank also provides base voltage to drive transistor T2
and the logic built around NAND gates N1 and N2 outputs high to pin 12 of gate N3.
The net effect is that the output at pin 11 of N3 goes low and the motor stops
pumping water into the tank.

When water level falls below probe B but above probe A, water inside the tank still
provides base voltage to transistor T1 and relay RL1 remains energised to make pin
13 of gate N3 high. However, transistor T2 doesn’t conduct and the logic built around
NAND gates N1 and N2 outputs high to pin 12 of N3. As a result, the output of N3
remains low and motor remains stopped.

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2/11/22, 9:05 PM Automatic Water Pump Controller | Full Circuit Available

When water level falls below probe A, both transistors T1 and T2 do not conduct.
NAND gate N3 gives a high output to drive relay RL2 and the motor restarts pumping
water into the tank.

Indicator

Fig. 2: Automatic water pump controller: Indicator/monitoring circuit

Fig. 2 shows the indicator/monitoring circuit. It consists of five LEDs, which glow to
indicate the level of water in the overhead tank. Since 12V power supply is given to
water at the base of the tank, transistors T3 through T7 get base voltage and conduct
to light up the LEDs (LED5 down through LED1).

When water in the tank reaches the minimum at level C, transistor T7 conducts and
LED1 glows. When water level rises to one-fourth of the tank, transistor T6 conducts
and LED1 and LED2 glow. When water level rises to half of the tank, transistor T5
conducts and LED1, LED2 and LED3 glow. When water level rises to three-fourth of
the tank, transistor T4 conducts and LED1 through LED4 glow. When the tank is full,
transistor T3 conducts and all the five LEDs glow. So, from glowing of LEDs, one can
know water level in the tank (see the table). The LEDs can be mounted anywhere for
easy monitoring.

Note

The user can adjust the level to which water must be filled in the tank by adjusting
the heights of probes A and B. The stand and adjusting screws should be insulated to
avoid shorting.

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2/11/22, 9:05 PM Automatic Water Pump Controller | Full Circuit Available

This article was first published on 3 October 2004 and was updated on 10 June
2019.

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