Smart System for Controlling and Monitoring Water and Turbidity Levels in Dam Reservoir using Micro-Controller Technology

Abstract

A micro-controller-based technology has been developed for monitoring and controlling the water quality and quantity in dam reservoirs by using various sensors. This system is able to automatically detect and measure the changes in water and turbidity levels of incoming water for hydropower production. In this project, an Arduino UNO microcontroller and GSM Technology control the operations of the system through sending messages and regulating automatic water valves according to the instant status of the dam water. The developed prototype has four units: sensing unit, processing unit, displaying unit and alerting unit. In the sensing unit, the ultrasonic sensor continuously monitors the change in water levels and the turbidity sensor takes turbidity measurements of incoming water. In the processing unit, the detected data are collected and fed to the microcontroller for further processing. This technology is expected to reduce the time and cost incurred during the hydropower plant operations by using a small amount of manpower and will facilitate fast information collection.