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Water sensor...

T

TrimTheKing

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Hi Bob (and anyone else with an electrical/electronic bent), how do you fancy another challenge...?

I've been putting more pumps in place this week, and adding an early warning system (not quite working because of an old duff transformer which a mate is specing a replacement for me) which I'll share when complete, but I've also been thinking about how I could do something even more clever.

Sadly I have the idea but not the knowledge (currently) on how to execute...

I was wondering whether it would be possible to create, using the same frugal a minimalist methods as you shared here a sensor that could be set at a certain depth in my various water collecting/pumping chambers, and detect a rise in level and alert me?

The one I mention above involves some existing float switches which, when tripped, turn on orange strobes (one per pump) but I wondered if it would be possible to be a bit more clever and have something that could text/email me, or even, using some kind of smart switch, have Alexa announce to me that the sensor has been set off...?

What you reckon, up for the challenge, or at least helping me to investigate how it might work...?
 
Yes.
But it would be low voltage and require some way to transmit a signal yo a base station.

A water sensor is a really easy project the hard part is making it hard enough to stay in a hole forever.
 
I've just specified such an alarm for a major project I am doing at the moment. There is no need for a do it yourself option when there are leak detection systems commercially available. I'll go and see if I can find it.

As an aside, you might want to let your insurance company know you are doing this, as it may help reduce your premium.
 
If you've got a system either in mind or operational that can light a strobe, then connecting it via a suitable relay to the GPIO pins of a raspberry pi would let it do just about anything that your computer can. Email or talking through Alexa is definitely on, though SMS might need a paid-for gateway service.
 
Envirostop Leak Detector alarm. Ph:03301 595933. They've all sorts of options, including sending an alarm call automatically to your phone.

Relying on a float switch is not good enough. They fail, but also they require enough water to float. The detectors I linked to can detect stuff way before any float switch would start floating. They're used as spill detectors in factories, amongst other things.
 
Mike G":388eyo7o said:
Envirostop Leak Detector alarm. Ph:03301 595933. They've all sorts of options, including sending an alarm call automatically to your phone.

Relying on a float switch is not good enough. They fail, but also they require enough water to float. The detectors I linked to can detect stuff way before any float switch would start floating. They're used as spill detectors in factories, amongst other things.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike, I’ll take a look.
 
spb":19n8e9cu said:
If you've got a system either in mind or operational that can light a strobe, then connecting it via a suitable relay to the GPIO pins of a raspberry pi would let it do just about anything that your computer can. Email or talking through Alexa is definitely on, though SMS might need a paid-for gateway service.
Click to expand...

I like the sound of that as well as Mike’s suggestion. I have dine a bit of coding in my dark and distant past but how easy/difficult is it to code a Pi? I do have one that I used to run Kodi on that is now redundant so that’s an option...
 
Pi coding is pretty damn easy but i reckon youll find something alrrady exists. I was thinking down the lines of arduino down the hole with a transimtter and a pi on the surface to do the alert. Water sensor is an op amp and 2 wires near each other.
Its just not hardy enough for something id consider safety critical.
 
I know I've mentioned this before but isn't the solution to stop the water getting in there in the first place? I like low-tech solutions.
 
RogerS":2n6oe9xq said:
I know I've mentioned this before but isn't the solution to stop the water getting in there in the first place? I like low-tech solutions.
Click to expand...

I’ll get some pic tomorrow. Without next door digging up their drains and replacing with 4foot diameter pipes through the field I can’t stop it.

Starts with the farmer, then the council, then next door’s drain.
 
As mentioned before - alarms and pumps are all very well, but can you reliably dispose of flood water faster than it comes in? I know this is passing the parcel to wherever you eject the water, but if it really requires massive 4ft diversion pipes to stop the incoming flow, then it is hard to see a solution.

The other aspect is that you appear highly reliant on electricity. Floods tend to have the unfortunate side effect of creating power cuts.
 
TrimTheKing":8x7okr3i said:
I like the sound of that as well as Mike’s suggestion. I have dine a bit of coding in my dark and distant past but how easy/difficult is it to code a Pi? I do have one that I used to run Kodi on that is now redundant so that’s an option...
Click to expand...

Fundamentally it's just a Linux system, so you can code for it in more or less whatever language/framework you like. The libraries that they provide for easy access to the Pi-specific bits are in Python, if I remember rightly, and pretty straightforward. You'd basically be writing a bit of duct tape code to stick the Pi libraries to one of the various open source email/Alexa/etc. client libraries.
 
You're in IT aren't you? These get put in server rooms all the time. There's loads of off the shelf solutions. A lot with funky connectivity features.
 
Simpler solution. Divert the water. Piccies, Mark ?

Only reason for saying this is that we had similar problems at our last place. The first was where the farm track formed a dip in the bank at the rear of our house. Water would run down the hill and the track and then down our bank. I put in a small ditch and pipe and fed it into a land-drain problem solved.
PIC00001.JPG
PIC00002.JPG

Elsewhere we had a lot of field run-off in a couple of areas on the drive which would washed away. I can't find the video but it's impressive. In one section we have a very large ditch on one side of the drive..nearly full..and on the other side two 12" pipes spewing out the water.
 
Photos taken. And will share in a bit (out in the workshop now).

One of my pumps failed the other day, grrrrrr. Can hear it try when the float is lifted but couldn’t turn the impeller. Got a lad out servicing it now, I now know why...

6145edf6d77d556937e4b057d0540405.jpg


4a1003e56167db5f55c7b23d57bc19e4.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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