An IoT-enabled Centralized Water Management System

What is it about?

In the rural regions of north Malaysia, small waterways and canals are controlled through a series of manually-operated watergates, often scattered over a large geographical area. To manage the water flow in these canals, operators would need to go to each gate and manually open or close the waterway, which is very inefficient, especially during the heavy rain or the monsoon seasons. We started by automating the watergate itself by redesigning the gate mechanism and introducing electro-mechanical systems such as actuators, gearing systems, sensors, and network-ready controllers. Furthermore, these modifications can be implemented on existing gates, so no need to rebuild from scratch. Next, we configured the network-ready controllers in each watergate to broadcast its data and status to a web-based Command Centre. The collated information created a Centralized understanding of the water situation in the region. Officials could also monitor each gate, share the data with local authorities, and, if needed, open or close any gate remotely through the internet.

Featured Image

Photo by Mikita C on Unsplash

Photo by Mikita C on Unsplash

Why is it important?

With the solution introduced in this work, authorities could better monitor and manage the flow of water over large areas, which could be very useful in Flood mitigation, Irrigation, and maximizing utilization of water resources.

Perspectives