The H2ONO Wireless Water Use Monitor System

Main Unit

The main water flow meter circuit is comprised of the following components. A 3.3 volt plug-in power supply that will power the Minomess 130 water sensor, MSP430 microcontroller, and the Zigbee module. The meter will then send a pulse to the microcontroller for every gallon of water that travels through the main water line. The microcontroller tallies these pulses and transmits the total pulses received every hour to the Zigbee module where the data will be sent wirelessly to the system's Central Unit.  

Sprinkler Unit

The sprinkler system’s circuit contains a 120 volt AC plug-in power supply which is then stepped down to 5 volts DC by a 7805 voltage regulator to power the sprinkler’s water sensor. The voltage is then stepped down once more to 3.3 volts DC by a 1086 voltage regulator in order to power the MSP430 microcontroller and Zigbee module. Data is transmitted in a similar fashion as in the main unit, pulses are sent to the microcontroller for processing and then the number of gallons per hour is sent wirelessly to the Wiznet module.  

Central Unit

The Wiznet Circuit, as you can see, is a fairly simple design. It only consists of a 3.3 volt plug-in power supply that provides power for both the Zigbee and Wiznet module. This Zigbee module is the coordinator that receives all the data transmitted from both the main and sprinkler circuit. This data is sent to the Wiznet module where it is then transmitted to the webserver via an Ethernet cable plugged in directly to the module. The best part of this circuit is it provides the flexibility to be placed anywhere in the home that contains a power outlet and Ethernet connection for the customers convenience.

The Website

The customer will be able to graphically see the data that is being collected from their H2ONO system by logging into the website with their Username ans Password. Data is be displayed in bar graphs for easy to understand visuals of the corresponding water use of their home. The data can be chosen to be displayed in different time frames; hours, days, weeks, months, years. The website will also allow the customer to compare two separate sets of data for better monitoring and to be able to make adjustments to their water use if necessary. A pannel will display a broken down cost of the water use being displayed.

Notifications

Email notifications are another feature of our system. An email will be sent to the user when the system’s readings indicate that the customer will be reaching the next tier in their water usage, in which case they are about to pay a bit more per gallon, or when a leak has been detected. The customer can click on a link in the email that will take them to their home page of the monitoring website. Once they have been redirected, they can choose to dismiss the notification. If so, the notification will disappear from their home page.