DESIGN OF WATER LEVEL ACTIVATED ALARM SYSTEM FOR

HOUSE WATER TANK

MOHD HAFIENI BIN MD YAKIM

MAY 2009

DESIGN OF WATER ACTIVATED ALARM SYSTEM FOR HOUSE

WATER TANK

MOHD HAFIENI BIN MD YAKIM

This Report Is Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of

Bachelor in Electrical Engineering
(Industrial Power)

Fakulti Ke juruteraan Elektrik

Universiti Teknikal Malaysia (UTeM)

May 2009

I hereby declared that this report is a result of my own work except for the excepts that
have been cited clearly in the references

Signature

Name

Mohd Hafieni bin Md Yakim

Matrix Number

B010510128

Date

13 / 05 / 2009

Saya akui laporan ini adalah hasil kerja saya sendiri kecuali ringkasan dan petikan yang
tiap-tiap satunya saya jelaskan sumbernya.

Tandatangan

Nama

Mohd Hafieni bin Md Yakim

No. Matrik

B010510128

Tarikh

13 / 05 / 2009

I hereby declared that I have read through this report and found that it has comply the
partial fulfillment for awarding the degree of Bachelor of Electrical Engineering
(Industrial Power)

Signature

: .

Supervisors Name

: P. M. Dr. Musse Mohamud Ahmed

Date

Saya akui bahawa saya telah membaca karya ini pada pandangan saya karya ini
adalah memadai dari skop dan kualiti untuk tujuan penanugerahan Ijazah Sarjana Muda
Kejuruteraan Elektrik (Kuasa Industri).

Tandatangn

: .

Nama Penyelia

: P. M. Dr. Musse Mohamud Ahmed

Tarikh

For my beloved father and mother

Md Yakim Bin Lambak and Halimah Binti Abdullah
For all their support and understanding.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.

Alhamdulillah, all praise is to Allah that I have been able to complete my report for
my Projek Sarjana Muda 2 that is design of water level activated alarm system for house
water tank.
Successfully completion of this project would not have been possible without the
tremendous amount of time, assistance, and understanding of the people in my university
life and my personal life. I would like to acknowledge my Honors supervisor, Associate
Professor Dr. Musse Mohamud Ahmed, whose guidance and expertise was essential to the
project. A very big thank you must also goes to my family, especially my parents, for the
infinite ways in which they have supported my studies all this year. A special thank you
must goes to my sister and my brother for all their proofreading and to all my friends and
fellow BEKP class mates, for their support, humors and knowledge that kept me going
through the year. Finally, many thanks are also due to the FKE technicians and also all
lecturers who helped and gave their brilliant ideas and the use of the equipments in the
libratory of FKE.

ABSTRACT

This project is inspired to monitor and detect water level when the water filled up in
house water tank. When water is filled up with the house water tank, water level must be
determined. So, this project is required to design and implement a circuit that detects water
level and shows by numbers of the LED and the alarm will function when the water is filled
up with the house water tank. The project circuit is also included the specific conductivity
mechanism that would show the levels of different numbers of LED when the water is filled
up with the house water tank. The specific conductivity varies with temperature, volume and
separation distance of the measurement probes. Normally, water tap has a conductance of
about 50 uS /cm and 20K Ohm / cm at 25 C. The circuit is drawn out as a block diagram,
and then entered in a schematic using MULTISIM to simulate for correct functionality.
Once the circuit is performed accurately in testing it will be assembled with the actual
components on a breadboard and will be verified using laboratory equipment.

ABSTRAK

Projek ini diinspirasikan untuk mengawal dan mengesan paras air apabila air diisi ke
dalam tangki air rumah. Apabila air sedang diisi ke dalam tangki air rumah,kandungan air
didalam tangki tidak dapat dilihat tidak dapat mengenal pasti paras air tersebut.Jadi,projek
ini perlu merekabentuk dan memasang litar yang boleh mengesan paras air dan paras air
tersebut boleh ditunjukkan berdasarkan bilangan LED yang menyala seterusnya alat
penngera akan berbunyi apabila sampai ke paras air yang dikehendaki.Litar project ini
menggunakan mekanisme `specific conductivity` yang akan mengesan paras air yang
berbezaapabila air memenuhi tangki air rumah. `Specific conductivity` beebeza dengan
suhu,isipadu dan jarak pembahagian antara alat pengukur.Kebiasaanya, air mempunyai
pengalir iaitu 50 uS /cm dan 20K Ohm / cm pada 25 C.Litar ini dilukis menggunakan
MULTISIM untuk disimulasi untuk mendapat fungsi yang betul.Kemudian,semua
komponen yang sebenar digabung dan disusun pada papan litar dan diujikaji menggunakan
peralatan makmal.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

TITLE

PAGE

TITLE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

vi

ABSTRAK

vii

CONTENTS

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

xii

LIST OF TABLES

xiv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

xv

LIST OF APPENDICES

xvi

INTRODUCTION
1.1

Project Background

1.2

Problem Statement

1.3

Project Objective

1.4

Project Scope

1.5

Thesis Outline

LITERATUTE REVIEW
2.1

Introduction

2.2

Water level indicator

2.3

Water level indicator with alarm

2.4
2.5
3

Differential water level activated alarm, water

indicator with alarm and water level indicator

Summary of commonly used water level technologies

METHODOLOGY
3.1

Introduction

10

3.2

Project planning

11

3.3

Flow chart

12

THEORY ON THIS PROJECT

4.1

4.2
4.3

4.4

Specific conductivity theory

16

4.1.1

Definition of conductivity

16

4.1.2

Specific Conductivity

17

4.1.3

Measurement of Specific Conductivity

18

AC supply theory

18

4.2.1

18

Introduction to AC supply

Voltage divider theory

21

4.3.1 Definition of voltage divider theory

21

4.3.2 Measurement of voltage divider

22

4.3.3 Resistive divider

23

4.3.4 Measurement of resistive divider

23

4.3.5

24

Low pass RC filter

Gate logic

25

4.4.1 The truth table

26

4.4.2 Operation of NAND Gate

26

4.4.3 Operation of Non-Inverter gate

27

4.4.4 Voltage buffer

27

4.4.5 Current buffer

27

4.5 Conclusion

28

HARDWARE DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN

5.1

Regulator supply

29

5.1.1

Voltage regulator introduction

29

5.1.2

The Transformer

31

5.1.2.1 Calculating secondary voltage

32

5.1.2.2 Calculating secondary current

32

5.1.2.3 Transformer rating in this project

33

The rectifier

34

5.1.3.1 Definition and basic circuit operation

34

5.1.3.2 The full wave rectifier

34

5.1.3.3 Calculating load voltage and currents

35

The Capacitor

36

5.1.4.1 Basic theory for capacitor as a filter

37

5.1.4.2 Capacitor function in this voltage regulator

39

5.1.5

Regulator LM7805 (5 V voltage regulator)

39

5.1.6

Summary of function of the voltage regulator

5.1.3

5.1.4

circuit
5.2

The activated level and alarm circuit

41

5.2.1

IC CMOS 4050b

41

5.2.2

IC CMOS 4011b

42

5.2.3

Energy stored in a capacitor

43

5.2.4

The operation of the activated level

44

5.2.5

The Operation of the Activated Alarm Circuit

46

5.2.6

Combination of the Activated Level and Alarm

Circuit

47

The prototype of the water tank

49

Water Level Activated Alarm System Circuit

50

5.2.7
5.3

40

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

6.1

Results

52

6.2

Experimental results

52

6.2.1

53

6.3

The water level indicator

Discussion

58

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

7.1

Conclusion

59

7.2

Recommendation

60

REFERENCES

61

LIST OF FIGURES

NO

TITLE

PAGE

Figure 2.1

Water level indicator circuit diagram

Figure 2.2

Water level indicator with alarm circuit diagram

Figure 3.1

Project planning schedule

11

Figure 3.2

Project methodology flow chart

13

Figure 4.1

A potential is applied across the plates

16

Figure 4.2

The relationship between conductivity and ion

concentration for two common solutions

4.3

The sine wave in AC supply

17 Figure
19

Figure 4.4

Diagram of the move in AC supply

21

Figure 4.5

Simple resistive voltage divider

23

Figure 4.6

Resistor/capacitor voltage divider

24

Figure 4.7

The operation of NAND gate

26

Figure 5.1

The block diagram of the voltage regulator

30

Figure 5.2

Voltage regulator circuit(simulation)

30

Figure 5.3

The basic of transformer

31

Figure 5.4

The flux flowing

31

Figure 5.5

The center tap transformer

33

Figure 5.6

The bridge rectifier (use in this project)

35

Figure 5.7

The two diodes rectifier

35

Figure 5.8

Illustrates the average

36

Figure 5.9

The capacitor theory

37

Figure 5.10

Capacitor in open circuit

38

Figure 5.11

5V voltage regulator schematic diagram

39

Figure 5.12

The regulator circuit hardware

40

Figure 5.13

a-The functional block diagram

b- Pinout

41

Figure 5.14

a- 4011b pin placements

b- Symbol and the truth table for NAND gate

Figure 5.15

43

The simulation of the activated level circuit for one

level only

45

Figure 5.16

The activated level circuit

45

Figure 5.17

The activated alarm circuit

46

Figure 5.18

The simulation of the activated alarm circuit

47

Figure 5.19

The simulation of the combined activated level circuit

and alarm circuit

48

Figure 5.20

Combination of the activated level and alarm circuit

48

Figure 5.21

Prototype of the water tank

49

Figure 5.22

The simulation of the full circuit

50

Figure 5.23

The picture after combination circuit

51

LIST OF TABLES

NO
Table 2.1

TITLE

PAGE

Differential water level activates alarm, water indicator

with alarm and water level indicator

Table 4.1

Summary of commonly used water level technologies

Table 6.1

The water indicator data

54

Table 6.2

The alarm operated data

57

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AC

Alternating Current

DC

Direct Current

LED

Light Emitter Diode

LIST OF APPENDIX

NO
APPENDIX

TITLE
Datasheet

PAGE
62

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1

Project overvie w
This project is used the specific conductivity which varies with temperature, volume

and separation distance of the measurement probes. Water tap has a conductance of about 50
uS / cm measured at 25 Co . This project circuit triggers with any fluid with a resistance
between the maximum separation distances of the probes. The circuit has 4050B CMOS hex
buffer. All gates are biased off by the resistors connected between the ground and the buffer
input. The "common" probe is the topmost probe above probe 1 in the diagram is connected
to the positive 5 volt supply. If probe 1 is spaced 1 cm awa y from the common probe and
water tap at 25 Co is detected between the probes (a resistance of 20k) then the top gate is
activated and the LED 1 will light. Similarly if probe 2 at 2 cm distance from the common
probe detects water, LED 2 will light and so on. Switch 1 is used to select which output
from the hex buffer will trigger the alarm made from the gates of a CMOS 4011B IC.

1.2

Objectives of the project

1. To design the water alarm system with indicator
2. To explore the specific conductivity as level technologies.
3. To use waters ability to conduct electricity
4. To build the house water tanks for home appliances.
5. To design the switching circuit that with the desired water level to trigger the alarm.
6. To monitor the level of water in a bath or cold storage tank.

1.3

Proble m statement
Nowadays, the house water tank is very important to keep water for daily use and in

emergency cases like when the main pipe leaks. So, water level indicator is important to
monitor the level of water in a bath or cold storage tank and to determine volume of
balanced water in the tank. This project is to create water activated alarm system that use
240 Vac 50 Hz and with specific conductivity as the level technology. The water activated
alarm system also can be used to monitor the level of another liquid in cold storage tank
where temperature of the liquid is 25 Co .So,the water level activated alarm system not only
used for water but its can be use for another liquid.
1.4

Scope of the project

1. To study the specific conductivity method
2. To design the circuit and combine it to create water activated alarm system uisng the
specific conductivity method.
a. Regulator circuit
b. Water level control circuit
c. Synchronyse the project circuit with the tank
3. To do analysis and experiment on the circuit and prepare a full report

1.5

Thesis Outline

Chapter 1 briefly summarizes the project background and problems statements as

well as it elaborates the objective and scope of the project.
Chapter 2 explains about the literature review. In this chapter it contains information
about the water level detector. Beside that it has some information about the components
that used for this project
. Chapter 3 explains about the project methodology. In this chapter it contains the
progress of the project. The project methodology which is the most important part that
describes the flow of the project is also discussed in detail in this chapter.
Chapter 4 discusses about the theory that is to be used in this project. Theory in this
project involved about the specific conductivity, the filter, the voltage regulator, the gate
logic and another related theory.
Chapter 5 explains about the hardware developments. In this chapter, the hardware
components which are use in this project are explained in detail. Some results from
simulation using MULTISIM 10 has been shown.
Chapter 6 shows the testing results after testing for the project circuit. Some results
and analysis have been recorded in this chapter.

Finally, in Chapter 7 the conclusion of the project is discussed and necessary

recommendations are stated clearly.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1

Introduction
This chapter will discuss the literature review according to the Water Level

Activated Alarm system that is used in the residential and industrial areas. Summary of
Commonly Used Water Level Technologies also discussed in this chapter based on their
descriptions, advantages and disadvantages. Water Level technologies are very important to
discuss when designing the water level activated alarm which depends on the type of liquid,
size of the tank and the tank. This chapter as show the operation and the circuit diagram in
the residential and industrial areas. This is important to compare the Water Level Activated
Alarm system advantages and disadvantages.

2.2

Wate r Level Indicator

Figure 2.1: Water level indicator circuit diagram

This circuit not only indicates the amount of water present in the overhead tank but
also gives an alarm when the tank is full. The circuit uses the widely available CD4066,
bilateral switch CMOS IC to indicate the water level through LEDs.When the water is
empty the wires in the tank are open circuited and the 180K resistors pulls the switch low
hence opening the switch and LEDs are OFF. As the water starts filling up, first the wire in
the tank connected to S1 and the positive supply are shorted by water. This closes the switch
S1 and turns the LED1 ON. Similarly the LED 1, the LED 2, LED 3 and LED 4 light
gradually when the water continues to fill the tank. The number of levels of indication can
be increased to 8 if 2 CD4066 ICs are used in a similar fashion. When the water is full, the
base of the transistor BC148 is pulled high by the water and this saturates the transistor,
turning the buzzer ON. The SPST switch has to be opened to turn the buzzer OFF. [12]