Low-Cost Internet-of-Things Water-Quality Monitoring System for Rural Areas

Abstract

Water is a vital source for life and natural environments. This is the reason why water sources should be constantly monitored in order to detect any pollutants that might jeopardize the quality of water. This paper presents a low-cost internet-of-things system that is capable of measuring and reporting the quality of different water sources. It comprises the following components: Arduino UNO board, Bluetooth module BT04, temperature sensor DS18B20, pH sensor—SEN0161, TDS sensor—SEN0244, turbidity sensor—SKU SEN0189. The system will be controlled and managed from a mobile application, which will monitor the actual status of water sources. We propose to monitor and evaluate the quality of water from five different water sources in a rural settlement. The results show that most of the water sources we have monitored are proper for consumption, with a single exception where the TDS values are not within proper limits, as they outperform the maximum accepted value of 500 ppm.

Water Supply Interruptions Are Associated with More Frequent Stressful Behaviors and Emotions but Mitigated by Predictability: A Multisite Study

“…In rural contexts, information about intermittent water sourcessuch as groundwater sources where access fluctuates seasonally or with precipitation eventsis generally spread by word-of-mouth. Sensors and mobile technology may present opportunities for notification systems that save residents time by steering them to the “best” available water source (e.g., cleanest, nearest, or fastest-flowing), but most of the sensor research for rural water systems has focused on water quality, usage patterns, or infrastructure maintenance. − …”

Wireless Sensor Networks for Water Quality Monitoring: A Comprehensive Review

“…The widespread implementation of Bluetooth (BT) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is mainly due to their low cost, and research analyzing their performance has been VOLUME XX, 2023 developed in [54], [92]- [95]. BLE is implemented in [92] through mobile gateways, achieving energy consumption in nodes of 12.7 mA on wake-up and 7.8 mA during data transmission, while demonstrating autonomy when powered by solar cells, performing measurements every minute, and scalability as an open system; however, it lacks security systems.…”

“…In [93], BT communication is used to handle an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) for realtime WQM; however, this application resembles more of a TMIS approach, with the advantage that measurements can be taken outside the water body thanks to the USV. In [94] and [95], a sensor node deployment with BT communication is used to monitor water quality using Arduino and BT HC-5 and BT04-A modules, respectively. The implementations are low-cost; however, in contrast to [92], they are simpler and, by using the Arduino platform, it can be assumed that energy consumption is much higher.…”