IoT based Sewage and Stormwater Monitoring System
Climate change possesses a real threat for people, places and livelihoods. To mitigate those threats, it is necessary for a person, community or a society to protect and decontaminate the environment in their respect. The major setback to the environment is the loss of agriculture lands. Every year,
2025-06-28 16:28:15 - Adil Khan
IoT based Sewage and Stormwater Monitoring System
Project Area of Specialization Internet of ThingsProject SummaryClimate change possesses a real threat for people, places and livelihoods. To mitigate those threats, it is necessary for a person, community or a society to protect and decontaminate the environment in their respect. The major setback to the environment is the loss of agriculture lands. Every year, thousands of acres of land are destroyed by the supply of sewage water to them. Not just the agriculture lands are being destroyed by the sewage water but also the aquatic life is in danger because of this.
Moreover, there is also another problem of gas explosions which happen in the underground sewage channels. The explosions happen when the gases inside these channels get trapped. Blasts occurred as a result of this can be very catastrophic and even result in casualties.
In addition to this, city life can be greatly affected by excessive rains and floods. Floods can take place when there are blockages in the sewage channels or they might also occur due to the lack of available infrastructure handling them.
For this reason, we have come up with a solution. The proposed solution includes two segments. The first one is sewage waste monitoring and the other is stormwater monitoring. As we know that the waste channels are filled with trash, harmful chemicals and gases therefore we will use sensors at multiple locations that will monitor these channels for blockages as well as the amount and type of harmful chemicals and gases present in them. The benefit of installing sensors at multiple locations is that we can narrow down to the areas where there is considerable amount of contamination in the water and then take measures to minimize the effect at the source rather than the destination.
Moving to the second portion of our proposed project which is stormwater monitoring. It is related to the first part in a way that if there are blockages in the sewage channels, the excess water from rains will cause floods. But its not limited to just this. Excessive rains can cause floods even if there are no blockages. Floods are more likely to happen because of improper handling of stormwater. By installing speed sensors, the rate of water flow can be checked and incase the critical rate is touched, it can alert the user. If the critical rate or level is reached, the water can be diverted to a safe place and cities can be saved from calamities.
The data from all these various sensors can be sent to the central control unit wirelessly and there it can be observed for further action. The control unit can be a treatment plant where the data would be helpful in treating the waste water or the relevant department.
Project ObjectivesThe main objectives of this project are:
- To develop an algorithm to monitor the sewage water.
- To develop an algorithm to monitor the stormwater.
- To monitor the harmful gases in the underground sewage channels.
- To implement the proposed system on hardware test board.
The first thing is the collection of necessary data from the sensors. The sensors are controlled by the Arduino micro-controller. The sensors are installed at various multiple locations. Different sensors are used like; the pH sensor; methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide sensor (CO); humidity, turbidity and temperature sensor; dissolved oxygen sensor (O2); ammonia nitrogen sensor (NH3); GPS; and electrical conductivity sensor. For monitoring the storm-water, speed and water level sensors are also used. Besides this, a camera module is also used for live streaming so that any blockages can be detected in real-time. The combination of sensors can be different for different purposes. For example, for monitoring storm-water, specific combination of sensors is used and likewise for monitoring underground sewage channels.
The next step is to send this data to the cloud and that is done via the Node-MCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi module. For the cloud setup, Azure platform is used. Azure platform is really helpful wherever cloud is involved. First, the Azure Event hub is formulated and then it is integrated with the ESP8266 module. After that, the data is transferred to Microsoft Power BI from Event hub via Stream Analytics and the output is stored on Table Storage. Power BI helps us to view the data in the form of charts, graphs and etc. From Power BI, the data will be available at the end devices.
Furthermore, mobile apps can also be used as end devices where the necessary information can be viewed.
Benefits of the ProjectThe system proposed is an efficient, inexpensive IoT solution for real-time water quality monitoring. The goal of the project is to provide a methodology to monitor the sewage and stormwater effectively. By proper management of waste water and stormwater, agriculture lands can be provided with safe quality water and the marine life can also be benefitted. Moreover, the risk of explosions in underground septic tanks can be eliminated and workers’ lives can be saved. The proposed system provides a cost-effective solution compared to others and will eradicate the problem at the source instead of the destination.
Technical Details of Final DeliverableThe conclusion drawn from the researched work is that the Internet of Things (IoT) based device can be used for the surveillance of sewage and stormwater in cities or towns depending on where the impact is high. For the controlling of sensors, Arduino Uno is used. Moreover, underground septic tanks can be monitored for gas levels with the help of gas sensors like MQ-4, MQ-5 and MQ-7 which will not only help in proper ventilation of the poisonous gases but will also eliminate the risk of explosions by up to considerable extent. Similarly, floods can be monitored by the use of flow (YF-S201) and level sensors. The system will give an alert in case the critical rate is touched. The excess water can be stored in rainwater harvesting tanks for future use. The data from all these sensors will be sent to the cloud via Wi-Fi communication as it is reliable to use. To send the sensors' data to cloud, ESP 8266 is used. For the cloud setup, different platforms were studied like Microsoft Azure, ThingSpeak or Blynk. However, Azure platform is preferred in this regard because of its good speed and easy user interface. After sending the data to cloud, it will be diverted to user. The user can do the necessary action based on the data received.
Our project uses the following core technologies:
- Arduino SDK for sensors’ integration with Arduino microcontroller as well as NodeMCU ESP8266.
- Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n for sending data wirelessly.
- Azure Event hub, Stream Analytics and Storage Account for device-to-cloud and cloud-to-user communication.
- Thingspeak Cloud.
- Microsoft Power BI for viewing analytics in the form of charts and graphs.
| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 28070 | |||
| pH sensor | Equipment | 1 | 5000 | 5000 |
| DHT 11 sensor | Equipment | 1 | 300 | 300 |
| MQ-5 sensor | Equipment | 1 | 250 | 250 |
| Jumper wires bundle | Equipment | 1 | 230 | 230 |
| Arduino uno | Equipment | 1 | 1800 | 1800 |
| Turbidity sensor | Equipment | 1 | 2400 | 2400 |
| Water flow sensor | Equipment | 1 | 750 | 750 |
| Azure Cloud Services | Equipment | 1 | 17000 | 17000 |
| File (clip type) | Miscellaneous | 1 | 340 | 340 |