Wolkite University

College of Engineering and Technology

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Industrial Control Engineering Stream

Research method and Presentation proposal

Title: Thank Water Level Control Using Microcontroller

By: Getasew Muluye

Id number: 411/08

Submitted to: Mr. Ashenafi P.

Signature_____________

Wolkite, Ethiopia

June 11, 2019

 ACKNOWLADGMENT
Firs of all thanks to our God who gave knowledge, time and ability to do this project secondly,
we would say thank you to Mr. Ashenafi P. who gave this project for us to do and he help us,
motivate us to gain knowledge from this course. I appreciate all my class mates, all my friends
who have in one way or the other contributed immensely to the construction of this project.

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………………………………….TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………...

Contents Page
Acknowledgment ……………………………………………………………………………. i
Table of content………………………………………………………………………………...ii
List of figures…………………………………………………………………………………. iii
List of tables……………………………………………………………………………………iv
Acronyms………………………………………………………………………………………iv
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... v

chapter one………………………………………………………………………………………...1
1.Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Background of the study .................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................... 2

1.3 Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 2

1.4 research questions…………………...………………………………….………………….2

1.5 justifications……………………………………….….…………………………….……..3
1.6 scope of project……………………………………………….………………….………. 3
chapter two……………………..………...………………………………….…………….………4
2. Literature review ........................................................................................................................ .4

chapter three………………………………...………………………………………..……………6
3.Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 6

3.1 study area………………………………………………………………………...….….…...6

3.2 study period……………………………………………………………………….…...… 7
3.3 study subject……………………………………………………………………...…..…..7
3.4 study design………………………………………………………………………………7
3.5 population………………………………………………………………………………...7
3.6 sample size and sample procedure………………………………………………….…….8
3.7 study variable……………………………………………………………………….….…8

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 3.8 data processing……………………………………………………………………………8
3.9 ethical considerations………………………………………………………………….….9
3.10 operational definitions………………………………………………………………..….9
chapter four………………………………………………………………….……………….….10
4. Work plan…………………………………………………………………..…………….…...10

chapter five…………………………………………………………………….…………...……11
5. budget…………………………………………………………………………………….…...11
5.1 budget proposal……………………………...……………………………………….…..11
5.2 budget justification…………………………..………………………………………..... 11
chapter six…………………………………….……………………………………………….…12
6. plans for dissemination of findings……………………………………………………...…... 12
References

appendix

iii
List of figures
Figure 1: Block diagram of water level control…………………………………………………6
Figure 2: block diagram of data process steps…………………………………………………...9
List of tables
Table 1: work plan of the project……………………………………………………………….10
Table 2: - total budget table……………………………………………………………………..11

Acronym’s
DC = Direct current
LCD = Liquid crystal display
LED = Light emitting diode
IC = Integrated circuit
SIMO = simple input multiple output

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 ABSTRACT
Automatic water level controller for both overhead and underground tank is designed to monitor
the level of water in a tank. It displays the level of water and when it is at the lowest level; a pump
is activated automatically to refill the tank. When the tank is filled to its maximum capacity, the
pump is automatically de-energized. Several circuits are put together to ensure proper working of
this design, and the block diagram includes the supply unit, the micro-Controller unit, the sensor
unit, the display unit and the pump drives unit. The power unit is responsible for turning on the
entire circuit. Some components are used to set up power unit and they include; a 15v step down
transformer, a bridge rectifier circuit, a smoothening capacitor and a voltage regulator IC. The
microcontroller controls virtually all the actions carried out in this design. Th sensor unit is
responsible for sensing the level of water and transfer the current position of water to the
microcontroller. The display unit in the circuit is use to physically show the current position of
water in the tank, LCD display are been used to display the output.

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 CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
The project “automatic water level control with an automatic pump control system” is design
to monitor the level of liquid in the tank. Water level controller is equipment used to control
the water level in a field. The level of the water is controlled by using a microcontroller. Main
components are Arduino Uno microcontroller, ultrasonic sensor, motor, relay, LCD etc... The
sensors sense the presence of water and give indication to the microcontroller. The
microcontroller produces the control signals to drive the motor. If there is no water then
microcontroller gives control signal to start the motor and if there in sufficient water in the field
then the microcontroller gives control signal to stop the motor. And also, the microcontroller
enables the display and displayed as “THE MOTOR IS ON” when the motor starts and disable
the display when the motor is off. Hence the level of water in a field can be automatically
controlled. Here the sensor used is the ultrasonic which is placed at the top of the tank. If there
is water then the sensor which is placed at the top of the tank senses the water level by sending
and receiving sound signal, by considering the time taken by the signal the microcontroller
calculates the distance of water from the top of the tank. The microcontroller detects the
indication from the sensor. The microcontroller produces controls signal to the drive the motor
according to the indication and enables the display. The motor is controlled by a relay
mechanism. Motor is controlled by the Microcontroller, the microcontroller switching the
power supply to motor by relay mechanism. The system has an automatic pumping system
attached to it so as to refill the tank once the liquid gets to the lower threshold, while offing the
motor once the liquid gets to the higher threshold. This problem is quietly related to poor water
allocation, inefficient use, and lack of adequate and integrated water management. Water is
commonly used for agriculture, industry, and domestic consumption. Therefore, efficient use
and water monitoring are potential constraint for home or office water management system.
Moreover, the common method of level control for home appliance is simply to start the feed
pump at a low level and allow it to run until a higher water level is reached in the water tank.
This water level control, controls monitor and maintain the water level in the overhead tank
and ensures the continuous flow of water round the clock without the stress of going to switch
the pump ON or OFF Thereby saving time, energy, water, and prevent the pump from
overworking.

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 1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Today, most of the water tank users have replaced conventional pump with electrical pumps.
But they find it very inconvenient for the condition of water pump because there is no effective
water level indication system. As a result, if mechanical sensor fails, there are a plenty of water
waste as well as wastage of power consumed by motor pump. Solution of this problem is water
tank level controller using water level sensor. there are water tanks around gubre, this tanks
has no controlling device so when this tanks are filled with water there is always overflow of
water this leads to a lot of water to be wasted, this is a serious resource wastage, and also when
the water in the tank is to low there is no indication, because of this at the middle of work there
will be filling of a tank but this take a lot of time, this will lead to some distraction, the work
at the environment will be delayed. for example, suppose the workers are washing dishes or
cloths at time the water at tank is going to be empty due to this work will be stopped sooner
and this could lead to interruption to the service of the environment. This is a big problem at
the environment which needs to be solved quickly. The new system solves all of this.
1.3 OBJECTIVES
1.3.1 General Objective
The goal or objectives of which the designed device is expected to accomplish is to build an
automatic water level control with automatic control system.
1.3.2 Specific Objective
✓ To Design the schematic circuit of the System
✓ To design an automatic water monitoring system
✓ To avoid wastage of water
✓ To implement the system
✓ To incorporate an interactive medium between the end user and the machine

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

➢ Why use Water Level Controller?
➢ What is the study about?
➢ Why is the study being made?
➢ What type of data is required?
➢ Where can the required data be found?
➢ What periods of time will the study include?
➢ How many samples?
➢ How will the data be analyzed?
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 1.5 JUSTIFICATION
Automatic water level monitor came into existence because of human error and inconsistence
that is associated with manually operated water pumping machine. This is because it takes time
for individual who is manually operating the water pump to turn off the pumping machine and
this may cause water spillage and at times the individual might not know that the water level
has drop so low until the tank is completely empty. This was the problem that leads to the
development of the ideal of an automatic water level control and automatic pump short down.
In this project ultrasonic sensor is place at different level of the tank and with the aid of this
sensor, the micro-controller monitors the level of the liquid at any particular point.
some of the Significance are:
To design an automatic water monitoring system.
To control the water level in the tank by interfacing a RF module with microcontroller.
To solve the problem of water tank system users.
To avoid wastage of water.
To saves energy.
1.6 SCOPE OF PROJECT
Some other automated water level monitoring system is also offered so far but most of the
method has some shortness in practice. We tried to overcome these problems and implemented
an efficient automated water level monitoring and controlling system. In the near future as
home automation web-based water level monitoring and controlling system can be designed,
through which the system can be controlled from any place via internet through mobile phone.
This could have a substantial benefit from this research work for efficient management of
water. The project was design to automatically control the pump which ensures constant
reserve of water in the reservoir. The scope of the design was kept concise and simple to in
other not to introduce unnecessary complexities and render it generally uncomfortable. The
system does not have attached complex peripheral device which though impossible for the
detail printable information has been to a well-built automatic water pump was use due to
achieve this aim, the automatic water level controller detects and control the water in the tank.

3
 CHAPTER TWO
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
• Water level indicator project by Ahmed Ibrahim, Wires of different lengths but of same
material are tightened by the nuts. Each wire is connected to a particular led. When
water is added in the bucket, the first led to glow is the one whose wire is longest. The
second led glows when water makes contact with the second longest wire.
• Automatic water level indicator and controller by Ajinkya Kaner and Milind Rane, the
working procedure of this project is: the circuit consists of four sensing probes namely
A, B, C, D which are dipped in water at various levels to sense the level of water in the
tank.
• Water level indicator with alarms using pic microcontroller by Ahmed Abdullah, Md.
Galib Anwar, Takilur Rahman, Sayera Aznabi This design is applicable for both
reservoir and main tank in home or industries.PIC 18F452 used in this design.
• Design and Development of Automatic Water Flow Meter (International Journal of
Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.3, No.3, June 2013)
This research paper by Ria Sood, Manjit Kaur, Hemant Lenka emphases on the need of
water level controller in irrigation in agriculture. It says that every crop requires require
different amount of water and this can be done by using automatic water level controller
which will also help in reducing wastage of water.
• Automatic Water Level Controller with Short Messaging Service (SMS) Notification
(International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 4, Issue 9,
September 2014) This research paper by Sanam Pudasaini, Anuj Pathak, Sukirti
Dhakal, Milan Paudel presents a system of an automatic water level controller with
SMS notification. SMS notification was added to automatic controller system so that
water can be managed by user during load shedding.
• Automatic Water Level Control System (International Journal of Science and Research
(IJSR)) This research paper by Asaad Ahmed Mohammed ahmed Eltaieb , Zhang Jian
Min involves designing and development of automatic water level control system had
exposed to the better way of software and hardware architecture that blends together
for the interfacing purposes. The system employs the use of advance sensing technology
to detect the water level. It uses Arduino and uses relay to control motor.
• Pandey et.al,2011[1]-Explained Agricultural land management practices are
compatible with the preservation of water resources. Hydrological diagnoses are

4
 needed in order to choose the alternative land uses, cultivation practices and their spatial
arrangements.
• Jaehyoung Yu Harnsoo Han,2006[2] explained the monitoring water level in a river or
in a reservoir is important in the applications related to agriculture, flood prevention
and fishing industry etc. The schemes developed for measuring water level can be
categorized as 4 types based on measuring features: pressure, supersonic waves, heat,
image.
• B.Y.Lee and B.Y.park,2008[5]-Gave pressure sensor which is easy to use, it has a
limitation that it should be calibrated and replaced frequently due to possible
breakdown by continuous water pressure. Supersonic wave sensor is free from water
pressure since it measures the time of supersonic wave pulse from emitter to receiver
reflected by the water surface.
• Kon et.al,2009[6] Explained the use of image sensor for measuring water level is the
most recent approach. Different from other types of sensors, it can provide the
surrounding information around the sensor as well as the water level so that the
measured data can be confirmed.
• Jerry C. Whitaker,2010[7] explained that Ultrasound echo ranging transducers can be
used in either wetted(contact) or non-wetted(non-contact) configuration for continuous
measurements of liquid level.
• . A paper was proposed by Xavier Litric related to water management in dam using
single input multiple output systems. This SIMO system deals with the real time
calculation of outflow and inflow of water in dams.
• Syed Sheraz Mohani and his group mates had proposed a PC based dam control model
wherein they introduced the concept of division of reservoirs into upper and lower
reservoirs and efficiently use the dam water. But the overall control was through PC
and needed an operator.

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 CHAPTER THREE
3. METHODOLOGY
the overall design was broken into function block diagrams. Where each block in the diagram
represents a section of the circuit that carries out a specific function. The system was designed
using functional blocks as shown in the block diagram bellow.

LCD
SENSOR 1
11 1

SENSOR 2 MOTOR MOTOR

DRIVER
SENSOR 3
microcontroller

LED

buzzer

Figure 1. Block diagram of water level control

3.1 STUDY AREA
3.1.1 SUBJECT MATTER BASED STUDY AREA
The subject matter-based study area of thank water level control are:
• Programing
• Embedded system
• Electronics
• Generally, our study area cover physics and computer science subjects.
3.1.2 GEOGRAPHICAL BASED STUDY AREA
The geographical based study area is around gubre ethiopa. Then I select three overlapping
rings around the center point for which data is obtained. choosing one half-mile, one and half-
mile, and two-mile rings describes data in 0 to 0.5-mile radius, 0 to 1.5-mile radius, and 0 to 2-
mile radius.

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3.2 STUDY PERIOD
The study period of this project is over a period of 2 months, from April 2019 to June 2019
G.C
3.3 STUDY SUBJECT
In this project, it is aimed to implement microcontroller-based water level control of thank
using proteus professionals and keil uversion used to program c language. this information
revised from previous courses such as machine 1 and 2, c++ programing and embedded system.
3.4 STUDY DESIGN
A research design is a framework that has been created to find answers to research questions.
The study design selection is based on the parameters:
✓ Objectives
✓ Therapeutic area
✓ Out come and phase of trial
Study design is divided into two:
-exploratory: explores specific aspects of the research area
-conclusive: divided into two: -descriptive (describes specific elements, causes or
phenomena in the research area) and causal.
The study design I prefer for this project is conclusive descriptive because of:
• Data needs are clear
• Data sources are well defined
• Data collections are usually structured
• The samples are relatively large
• Data collections are rigid i.e. well-laid out procedure
• Data analysis is formal typically quantitative
3.5 POPULATION
There are two types of study population: target population and accessible population.
Target population are the entire group of individuals or objects to which researchers are
interested in generalizing the conclusion.
Accessible population is a subset of the target population and is also known as the study
population.
For this study the population was gubre people of all races, age groups, educational status,
socio-economic status and residential areas, who requested TOP services in water supply.

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3.6 SAMPLE SIZE AND SAMPLE PROCEDURE
2.6.1 SAMPLE SIZE
Sampling size depends on the level of precision, the confidence level and degree of variability.
I find that 75% of population in the sample have adopted a recommend technology with a
precision rate of ±5%, and I concluded that between 70% and 80% of population have adopted
the new technology (level of precision).
I find confidence interval is 90%, it means 90 out of 100 samples will have the true population
value within range of precision (confidence level).
I find that a proportion of 60% indicates a high level of variability (degree of variability).
2.6.2 SAMPLE PROCEDURE
There are two major sampling procedures in research These include probability and non-
probability sampling. From these probability sampling is best for this project.
There are four basic types of sampling procedures associated with probability samples These
include simple random, systematic sampling, stratified and cluster.
From the sampling procedure Systematic Sampling Procedure is best for this project.
3.7 STUDY VARIABLE
We have two types of variables these are:
✓ Microcontroller is an Independent variable of the project.
✓ Thank water level control is a dependent variable.
Other variables are:
✓ Height of the thank
✓ Power supply
✓ Accurate sensor input
3.8 DATA PROCESSING
The sensor sense’s the water level of the thank and sends signal to the microcontroller then the
microcontroller starts or stop the water pump according to the sensor signal also the LCD
displays the level of water. This is done by using keil uversion for the programing part and
proteus is used for the simulation.

8
The steps of data processing are:

Questionnaires and EDTING CODING

information gathering

CLASSIFICATION

TABULATION

GRAPHICAL
DATA ADJUSTING DATA CLEANING
REPRESENTATION

Figure 2. block diagram of data process steps

3.9 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
Any type of communication in relation to the research should be done with honesty and
transparency.
Affiliations in any forms, sources of funding, as well as any possible conflicts of
interests have to be declared.
Any deception or exaggeration about the aims and objectives of the research must be
avoided.
The protection of the privacy of research participants has to be ensured.
Any type of misleading information, as well as representation of primary data findings
in a biased way must be avoided.
3.10 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
Microcontroller is as the name suggests, are small controllers. They are like single chip
computers that are often embedded into other systems to function as processing/controlling
unit. It is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory,
and programmable input/output peripherals. Sensor an electronic device it is used to sense the
analog input and sends signal to the microcontroller. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen is
an electronic display module. A 16x2 LCD means it can display 16 characters per line and
there are 2 such lines.
DC motor it is a rotary electrical machine that converts direct current electrical energy int
mechanical energy. It is used to suck the water from the ground and send it for fill the water
tank.
Buzzer It is an electronic used to give alarm sound as it is programmed.

9
 CHAPTER FOUR
4. WORK PLAN
The whole work plan is shown in the table below.

No Task April May June

1 Data collection 
2 Observation on 
the research
3 Literature 
review
4 Modeling the 
system
5 Simulation 

6 Analysis 
results and
discussions
7 Writing and 
reporting the
research
Table 1: - work plan

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 CHAPTER FIVE
5. BUDGET
5.1 BUDGET PROPOSAL
The amount of birr required to prepare the documentation of the proposal is 40
Birr in ethipian birr.
The total budget for the project is shown below in the table.

Item Cost in birr/unit Amount Cost in birr

Print and
documentation 1.50 1 40.00
Travel cost and other 50.00
Microcontroller 1 232.74
LCD 1 192.78
sensor 3 3600
Power supply 1 1780.00
Motor driver 1 99.63
Dc Motor 1 20000.00
TOTAL 25995.15
Table 2: - total budget table

5.2 BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS

for print and documentation 40 eth birr is needed, total of 15 pages each with 1.50 birr and
for cover page 15 birr is needed. For travel cost and other 50 birr is needed for the purpose
of information gathering. To buy microcontroller 232.74 birr is needed, which is used to
control the motor. For LCD 192.78 birr is sufficient which is used to display every information.
Three level Sensors for each 1200 birr to send signals to the microcontroller. The power
supply cost including electric wires, transformers and other power supply devices totally they
receive 1780 birr. Motor driver needs 99.63 birr to drive the motor reliable mode. For dc
motor 20,000 birr is efficient to drive the pump to fetch water from the reservoir. The total
budget for this project is 25,995.15 birr is needed. this amount of birr may be efficient to finish
the project.

11
 CHAPTER SIX
6. PLANS FOR DISSEMINATIONS OF FINDINGS
When the thank is full water is waste as well as wastage of power consumed by motor pump, ,
and also when the water in the tank is to low there is no indication, because of this at the middle
of work there will be filling of a tank but this take a lot of time, this will lead to some distraction,
the work at the environment will be delayed. Solution of this problem is automatic water tank
level controller using water level sensor.
The sensors sense the presence of water and give indication to the microcontroller. The
microcontroller produces the control signals to drive the motor. If there is no water then
microcontroller gives control signal to start the motor and if there in sufficient water in the field
then the microcontroller gives control signal to stop the motor. And also, the microcontroller
enables the display and displayed as “THE MOTOR IS ON” when the motor starts and disable
the display when the motor is off. Hence the level of water in a field can be automatically
controlled. Here the sensor used is the ultrasonic which is placed at the top of the tank.

12
REFERENCES
1. Design and Development of Automatic Water Flow Meter (International Journal of
Computer Science, Engineering and Applications (IJCSEA) Vol.3, No.3, June 2013) by by
Ria Sood, Manjit Kaur, Hemant Lenka
2. Automatic Water Level Controller with Short Messaging Service (SMS) Notification
(International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 4, Issue 9,
September 2014) by Sanam Pudasaini, Anuj Pathak, Sukirti Dhakal, Milan Paudel
3. Automatic Water Level Control System (International Journal of Science and Research
(IJSR)) This research paper by Asaad Ahmed Mohammed ahmed Eltaieb , Zhang Jian Min
4. Gaurav Waradkaret “Automated Room Light Controller with Visitor Counter”,Imperial
Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-2, Issue 4, 2016
5. Asst prof, E.Shilpa “ Implementation of Automatic Room Light Controller with Visitor
Counter Design using 8051 Microcontroller”, International Journal of Innovative Research
in Computer and Communication Engineering Vol. 5, Issue 2, February 2017.
6. Anon.Water Level Sensor Accessed from the website:
http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A30607/article.html on 15th May 2009.
7. Yu, land Hahn. (2010). Remote Detection and Monitoring of. water level using narrow
capacitor. J. Information Science and MEngineering.26: 71-82.
8. S. M. Khaled Reza, Shah Ahsanuzzaman Md. Tariq, S.M. Mohsin Reza, “Microcontroller
Based Automated Water Level Sensing and Controlling: Design and Implementation
Issue”, 0, San Francisco, USA
9. Ikponmwosa, O. and Charles, A. "Development of an electric water pump controller and
level indicator," International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Vol. 3, Number
2, April 2013, pp. 18-21.2013.
10. Wara, S. T., Orovwode, H. E. and Mohammed, O. A. "Design Construction and
Simulation of an Electronic Water Level Controller,” International Research Journal in
Engineering Science and Technology, Vol. 4, Number 1, 2007, pp. 107-108.
11. Ebere, E. V. and Francisca, O. O. "Microcontroller Based Automatic Water Level Control
System", International Journal of Innovative Research in Computer and Communication
Engineering, Vol. 1, Number 6, August 2013, pp. 1390-1396.
12. Ali, A., Al_Soud, M., Abdallah, E. and Addallah, S. "Water Pumping System with PLC
Frequency and Frequency Control", Jordan Journal of Mechanical and Industrial
Engineering, Vol. 3, Number 3, 2009, pp. 216-221.
13. Dam Gate Level Monitoring and Control Over IOT:"SSRG International Journal of
Electrical and Electronics Engineering - (ICRTECITA-2017) -Special issue- March
2017"Sakthi Krishnan V, Sindhu R, Swetha A, Vivek MuthuKumaran G, and Sri Ragavis
APPENDIX A: SYSTEM COMPONENT LIST
1. Dc motor
2. Microcontroller
3. Sensor
4. LCD
5. Motor driver
6. Power supply
7. LED
8. Buzzer