SMART WATERFLOW MONITORING AND

ALARMING SYSTEM

A Major Project Submitted to Thiagarajar College (Autonomous)

Affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of

BACHELOR OF COMPUTER APPLICATION

submitted by

M. MURUGANANDAM (20SUCA13)
M. SABARI KUMAR (20SUCA19)

P. GAYATHIRI (20SUCA34)
Under the guidance of

DR. S. Abirami M.Sc., M. Phil., Ph.D.

Associate and Head-in-charge

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER APPLICATION

AND
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

THIAGARAJAR COLLEGE(AUTONOMOUS)
(Re-Accredited with “A” Grade by NAAC)
MADURAI-625009

NOVEMBER – 2022
Dr. S. ABIRAMI M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D.
Associate and Head-in-charge,

Department of Computer Application and Information Technology,

Thiagarajar College, Madurai - 625 009.

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this Major Project entitled “WATERFLOW MONITORING

AND ALARM SYSTEM ” submitted by M. MURUGANANDAM (20SUCA13)
and M.SABARI KUMAR (20SUCA19) , P.GAYATHIRI (20SUCA34) students of
Bachelor of Computer Application degree course in the Department of Computer
Application and Information Technology, Thiagarajar College (Autonomous), Madurai,
affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, is a bonafide record of work carried out
by them, under my guidance and supervision as a partial fulfilment of the course.

It is further certified that to the best of my knowledge, this Project report or any other
part of this project has not been submitted in this university or elsewhere for any other degree or
diploma.

Submitted for Viva-Voce held on_______________.

Head of the Department Internal Guide

Dr. S. Abirami, M.sc, M.Phil., Ph.D.,
Head of the Department,
Department of CA&IT,
Thiagarajar College,
Madurai 625009.

External Examiner
DECLARATION
 DECLARATION

The Major Project work entitled “WATERFLOW MONITERING AND ALARM

SYSTEM” has been carried out by us in the Department of Computer Application and

Information Technology, Thiagarajar College (Autonomous) Madurai, affiliated to

Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the

Degree of Bachelor of Computer Application.

We further declare that this major project work or any part of this work has not been

submitted in this university or elsewhere for any other degree or diploma.

Signature

M.MURUGANANDAM(20SUCA13)

M.SABARI KUMAR (20SUCA19)

P .GAYATHIRI (20SUCA34)

Date:
Place:
CONTENT
 TABLE OF CONTENT

Ch.NO TITLE Pg. No

1
Introduction 1
1.1. Abstract 2
5
1.2. Acknowledgement
7
1.3. System Analysis 9

1.4.System Configuration

2
System design 11
12
2.1. Data Flow Diagram
13
2.2 Circuit Diagram
3 System Specification 15

16
3.1. About the Language
3.2. About the Sensors 18

3.3. Project Description 25

3.4.Working Principle 28

3.5. Screen shots 30

38
4.1.Source Code
4 42
4.2.Testing

5 Conclusion 44

Future Enhancement
6 46

Bibliography & References

7 48
INTRODUCTION

1
ABSTRACT

2
 ABSTRACT

The project is entitled as “SMART WATERFLOW MONITORING AND

ALARMING SYSTEM” developed using Arduino and C++ with Arduino IDE.

The objective of the project is to avoid the accidents that happen in the waterfalls due

to the rapid increase of the water flow in the waterfalls .The project initiates its process when

we place a water flow sensor, a few distance before the waterfalls. Which is connected with

the Arduino UNO with the respective pin and also a buzzer alarm and a LED bulb is connected

for indicating when the water flow increases its limit range.

The system makes use of

• Water flow sensor

• Arduino

• LED bulbs

• Alarming buzzer

• Hose pipes

• LCD screen

WATERFLOW SENSOR:

We use a water flow sensor to measure the water flow rate. The Water flow rate is

the volume of fluid that passes per unit time. People often use water flow sensors for automatic

water heater control, DIY coffee machines, water vending machines, etc….

ARDUINO UNO:

Arduino acts as the brain of the system and processes the data from the sensor. Arduino

is an opensource hardware platform that is readily available for hobbyists and enthusiast across

the globe to build projects.

3
LED BULB:

LED BULB is used to indicate that the speed of water flow is increasing rapidly.

ALARMING BUZZER:

The system needs this component to generate the alarming sound to create an

awareness for the people.

HOSE PIPE:

HOSE PIPES are used for the water flow, which is directly connected to the water

source from one side and connected with the water flow sensor on the other side.

LCD SCREEN:

It is used to display the speed and volume of the water, which is flowing through the

sensor.

After completion of the proposed IOT device, the device would alert the people in-

charge behind the waterfalls to clear the people before the flood, thereby saving the valuable

human lives.

4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

5
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, we render our deep and sincere thanks to the Lord Almighty for his

Blessings. He has bestowed us with good health enabling us to complete our project.

we whole heartedly thank the Management for the golden opportunity given to me to

study in this esteemed Institution.

We take great delight in expressing our thanks to our Principal Dr. D. Pandiaraja

M.Sc., M.Phil., PGDCA., B.Ed., Ph.D. Thiagarajar College, Madurai, for giving me an

opportunity to study in this institution.

Our special and sincere thanks to all the faculty members, Department of Computer

Application and Information Technology , Thiagarajar college, Madurai for providing

laboratory facilities and her timely support throughout the project.

We immensely pleased to record our profound gratitude and heartfelt thanks to our

esteemed guide for her continuous guidance, supervision, encouragement and valuable

suggestions throughout the entire project. We deem it as a special privilege to work under his

guidance. we remain forever grateful to her.

We wish to dedicate our thanks to all the staff members and my friends for their

precious support through their prayers in our hardships and helping us to attain our goal.

At this juncture, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our ever-loving

family members for bearing all the inconvenience and providing their constant support and

encouragement now and forever.

Finally, we thank all those who have helped us directly and indirectly for the successful

completion of our Project.

6
SYSTEM ANALYSIS

7
 SYSTEM ANALYSIS

EXISTING SYSTEM

There is no automated system for measuring the speed of waterflow in the

waterfalls. Therefore, the lot of peoples are suffering , so they get stuck into the

sudden flood , Currently the people authorities in waterfalls giving warning to the

people manually , even they could not give warning priorly because they cannot

predict the speed of the waterflow in a waterfall.

PROPOSED SYSTEM

The proposed IOT System for waterflow monitoring and Alarming to detect

high-level flow of water .The Hall-effect sensor was used in this system to measure the

waterflow speed, which then used to create awareness alarm would alert the peoples

near the waterfalls, thereby saving the peoples from any disasters occurrences.

8
 SYSTEM
CONFIGURATION

9
 SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

Hardware Specification

Processor : AMD E-450 APU

Processor Speed : 1.65 GHz

RAM : 2 GB

Cache Memory : 512KB

Software Specification

Operating System : Windows 11.

Technology Used : Arduino, C++

IDE : Arduino IDE

Sensors

Microcontroller : Arduino UNO

Sensor : YF-S201(HALL EFFECT SENSOR)

10
SYSTEM DESIGN

11
 SYSTEM DESIGN

2.1 DATA FLOW DIAGRAM:

The Data flow diagram is a graphical tool. It is used to describe and analyse the

movement of the data through a system manual . They focus on the data flowing into system

between processed and in out of data stores. This is a central tool and the basis from which

other components are developed. The system models are termed as Data Flow Diagram. The

Data flow Diagram is also known as Data Flow graph or a bubble chart.

The basic notations are,

- Indicates the Flow of Data.

- Indicate the form.

- Indicate the Process being carried out by the form.

DFD :

Arduino UNO LCD

Sensor

Convert Digital into Analog Signal

RGB Alarming Buzzer

12
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

13
2.2 Circuit Diagram:

14
SYSTEM SPECIFICATION

15
ABOUT THE LANGUAGE

16
 3.1 ABOUT THE LANGUAGE

3.1.1 ARDUINO:
 Coding on Arduino are written using C++.
 C++ is a statically typed, compiled, general-purpose, case-sensitive, free-form
programming language that supports procedural, object-oriented, and generic
programming.
 C++ is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both
high-level and low-level language features.
 C++ is a superset of C, and that virtually any legal C program is a legal C++ program.

Features of C++:

 C++ provides a structured approach wherein you can break the problem into parts and
design the solution modularly.
 It provides you a rich set of library functions that you can use while implementing the
solution.

Advantages of C++:

 C++ is used by hundreds of thousands of programmers in essentially every application

domain.

 C++ is being highly used to write device drivers and other software that rely on direct
manipulation of hardware under real-time constraints.

 ++ is widely used for teaching and research because it is clean enough for successful
teaching of basic concepts.

17
ABOUT THE SENSOR

18
3.2 ABOUT THE SENSOR

3.2.1 Waterflow sensor

Description of the YF-S201:

Water flow sensors are installed at the water source or pipes to measure the rate of
flow of water and calculate the amount of water flowed through the pipe. Rate of flow of YF
water is measured as litres per hour or cubic meters.
Water flow sensor consists of a copper body, a water rotor, and a hall-effect sensor. When
water flows through the rotor, rotor rolls, its speed changes with different rate of flow.

Working Principle:
Water flow sensor consists of a plastic valve from which water can pass. A water
rotor along with a hall effect sensor is present the sense and measure the water flow.
When water flows through the valve it rotates the rotor.
By this, the change can be observed in the speed of the motor. This change is
calculated as output as a pulse signal by the hall effect sensor. Thus, the rate of flow of water
can be measured.

YFS201 Hall Effect Water Flow Sensor

19
 The main working principle behind the working of this sensor is the Hall effect.
According to this principle, in this sensor, a voltage difference is induced in the conductor
due to the rotation of the rotor. This induced voltage difference is transverse to the electric
current.

When the moving fan is rotated due to the flow of water, it rotates the rotor which
induces the voltage. This induced voltage is measured by the hall effect sensor and displayed
on the LCD display.

The water flow sensor can be used with hot waters, cold waters, warm waters, clean water,
and dirty water also. These sensors are available in different diameters, with different flow
rate ranges.

These sensors can be easily interfaced with microcontrollers like Arduino. For this, an
Arduino microcontroller board for processing, a Hall effect water flow sensor, a 16×2 LCD
display, and Breadboard connecting wires are required. The sensor is placed at the water
source inlet or at the opening of the pipe.

Applications of YF - S201:
• Agriculture
• Food processing
• Coffee/Tea makers
• Water Management
• Mining Industry

Connection Details:

Red wire: +5V

Black wire : GND

Yellow wire : PWM output

20
How to use YF - S201 :

The YF-S201 connections are pretty simple, the module contains 3 pins which are
generally colour coded as red, black, and yellow.

The Red is the power pin that is connected to the 5V of the microcontroller, the black is
the ground pin and the yellow is the signal output pin that can be connected to the digital pin
of the microcontroller.

3.2.2 Arduino Uno

The Arduino Uno is an open-source microcontroller board based on the

Microchip ATmega328P microcontroller and developed by Arduino.cc The board is
equipped with sets of digital and analog input/output (I/O) pins that may be interfaced
to various expansion boards (shields) and other circuits. The board has 14 digital I/O
pins (six capable of PWM output), 6 analog I/O pins, and is programmable with the
Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment), via a type B USB cable. It can
be powered by the USB cable or by an external 9-volt battery, though it accepts voltages
between 7 and 20 volts. It is similar to the Arduino Nano and Leonardo.[5][6] The
hardware reference design is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-
Alike 2.5 license and is available on the Arduino website. Layout and production files
for some versions of the hardware are also available.

21
Power USB
Arduino board can be powered by using the USB cable from your computer. All you need to
do is connect the USB cable to the USB connection

Power (Barrel Jack)

Arduino boards can be powered directly from the AC mains power supply by
connecting it to the Barrel Jack

Voltage Regulator
The function of the voltage regulator is to control the voltage given to the Arduino
board and stabilize the DC voltages used by the Microcontroller and other elements.

Crystal Oscillator
The crystal oscillator helps Arduino in dealing with time issues. How does Arduino
calculate time? The answer is, by using the crystal oscillator. The number printed on top of
the Arduino crystal is 16.000H9H. It tells us that the frequency is 16,000,000 Hertz or 16
MHz

Arduino Reset
You can reset your Arduino board, i.e., start your program from the beginning. You
can reset the UNO board in two ways. First, by using the reset button (17) on the board.
Second, you can connect an external reset button to the Arduino pin labelled RESET

Pins (3.3, 5, GND, Vin)

• 3.3V − Supply 3.3 output volt

• 5V − Supply 5 output volt

• Most of the components used with Arduino board works fine with 3.3 volt and 5 volts.

• GND (Ground) − There are several GND pins on the Arduino, any of which can be
used to ground your circuit.

• Vin − This pin also can be used to power the Arduino board from an external power
source, like AC mains power supply.

22
Analog pins

The Arduino UNO board has six analog input pins A0 through A5. These pins can read
the signal from an analog sensor like the humidity sensor or temperature sensor and convert it
into a digital value that can be read by the Microcontroller.

Main microcontroller

Each Arduino board has its own microcontroller. You can assume it as the brain of
your board. The main IC (integrated circuit) on the Arduino is slightly different from board
to board. The microcontrollers are usually of the ATMEL Company. You must know what IC
your board has before loading up a new program from the Arduino IDE. This information is
available on the top of the IC. For more details about the IC construction and functions, you
can refer to the data sheet

ICSP pin

Mostly, ICSP (12) is an AVR, a tiny programming header for the Arduino consisting
of MOSI, MISO, SCK, RESET, VCC, and GND. It is often referred to as an SPI (Serial
Peripheral Interface), which could be considered as an "expansion" of the output. Actually,
you are slaving the output device to the master of the SPI bus.

Power LED indicator

This LED should light up when you plug your Arduino into a power source to indicate
that your board is powered up correctly. If this light does not turn on, then there is something
wrong with the connection.

TX and RX LEDs

On your board, you will find two labels: TX (transmit) and RX (receive). They appear
in two places on the Arduino UNO board. First, at the digital pins 0 and 1, to indicate the pins
responsible for serial communication. Second, the TX and RX led (13). The TX led flashes
with different speed while sending the serial data. The speed of flashing depends on the baud
rate used by the board. RX flashes during the receiving process.

23
Digital I/O

The Arduino UNO board has 14 digital I/O pins (15) (of which 6 provide PWM (Pulse
Width Modulation) output. These pins can be configured to work as input digital pins to read
logic values (0 or 1) or as digital output pins to drive different modules like LEDs, relays, etc.
The pins labelled “~” can be used to generate PWM.

AREF

AREF stands for Analog Reference. It is sometimes, used to set an external reference
voltage (between 0 and 5 Volts) as the upper limit for the analog input pins.

24
PROJECT DESCRIPTION

25
 3.3 Project Description

The project is entitled as “WATERFLOW MONITORING AND ALARMING

SYSTEM” developed using Arduino and C++ with Arduino IDE.

The objective of the project is to avoid the accidents that happen in the waterfalls due to

the rapid increase of the water flow in the waterfalls .The project initiates its process when we

place a water flow sensor, a few distance before the waterfalls. Which is connected with the

Arduino UNO with the respective pin and also a buzzer alarm and a LED bulb is connected for

indicating when the water flow increases its limit range.

WATERFLOW SENSOR:

We use a water flow sensor to measure the water flow rate. The Water flow rate is the

volume of fluid that passes per unit time. People often use water flow sensors for automatic

water heater control, DIY coffee machines, water vending machines, etc….

ARDUINO UNO:

Arduino acts as the brain of the system and processes the data from the sensor. Arduino

is an opensource hardware platform that is readily available for hobbyists and enthusiast across the

globe to build projects.

LED BULB:

LED BULB is used to indicate that the speed of water flow is increasing rapidly.

ALARMING BUZZER:

The system needs this component to generate the alarming sound to create an awareness

for the people.

26
HOSE PIPE:

HOSE PIPES are used for the water flow, which is directly connected to the water source

from one side and connected with the water flow sensor on the other side.

LCD SCREEN:

It is used to display the speed and volume of the water, which is flowing through the sensor.

After completion of the proposed IOT device, the device would alert the people in-charge

behind the waterfalls to clear the people before the flood, thereby saving the valuable human lives.

27
WORKING PRINCIPLE

28
3.4 WORKING PRINCIPLE :

The development of the Internet of Things (IoT) System on Waterflow Monitoring for

Warning Phenomena. It aims to prevent visitors at a waterfall which warning will be alerted on

the increased water level at the waterfall.

The incident happened at the waterfall during high water level occur suddenly, where

visitors are unknown in the situations. The design system is based on IoT System for Waterflow

Monitoring where water level sensors are used to detect high-level water.

The waterflow sensor (YF-S201) was used in this system where the minimum time

delay of the sensor was detected compared with other sensors.

The Arduino microcontroller board was used as an interface from a sensor as input and

output for generating alert for the people.

The result of the developed system was analyzed based on time delay and efficiency of

water level. The analysis presents the motor rotations increased when the water speed has

increased.

The alert system is one advantage to reduce death cases that happened at the waterfall

which usually happen after rain in the surrounding waterfall.

This helps the tourism sectors in developing more visitors to the waterfall places and

keep visitors safe with the help of the recent technology can reduce bad incidence.

29
SCREEN SHOTS

30
3.5 Screen Shots of components:

3.5.1 Arduino Uno

3.5.2 Water Flow Sensor

31
3.5.3 BUZZER :

3.5.4 LED :

32
3.5.5 JUMPER WIRES

3.5.6 BREAD BOARD :

33
3.5.7 LCD with I2C :

Liquid Crystal Display with I2C

3.5.8 RESISTORS:

34
3.5.9 ARDUINO and LCD :

Displaying volume and speed on the LCD

35
3.5.10 ENTIRE SYSTEM :

Entire Architecture of the system

36
3.5.11 Output of Arduino IDE :

37
SOURCE CODE

38
 4.ARDUINO CODE

#include <Wire.h>
#include <LiquidCrystal_I2C.h>
LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(0x27, 16, 2);
int buzzer = 10;
int red = 11;
int green = 12;
int X;
int Y;
float TIME = 0;
float FREQUENCY = 0;
float WATER = 0;
float TOTAL = 0;
float LS = 0;
const int input = A0;
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
Serial.begin("Serial Monitor Started...");
lcd.begin();
lcd.backlight();
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Water Flow Meter");
Serial.println("Water Flow Meter");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("****************");
Serial.println("****************");

39
delay(2000);
pinMode(input, INPUT);
pinMode(buzzer, OUTPUT);
pinMode(red, OUTPUT);
pinMode(green, OUTPUT);
}
void loop()
{
X = pulseIn(input, HIGH);
Y = pulseIn(input, LOW);
TIME = X + Y;
FREQUENCY = 1000000/TIME;
WATER = FREQUENCY/7.5;
LS = WATER/60;
if(FREQUENCY >= 0)
{
if(isinf(FREQUENCY))
{
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("VOL. :0.00");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("TOTAL:");
lcd.print( TOTAL);
lcd.print(" L");
}
else
{
TOTAL = TOTAL + LS;

40
Serial.print("FREQUENCY :");
Serial.println(FREQUENCY);
if(WATER > 20.00)
{
digitalWrite(buzzer, HIGH);
digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
digitalWrite(green, LOW);
}
else
{
digitalWrite(buzzer, LOW);
digitalWrite(red, LOW);
digitalWrite(green, HIGH);
}
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("VOL.: ");
lcd.print(WATER);
lcd.print(" L/M");

lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("TOTAL:");
lcd.print( TOTAL);
lcd.print(" L");
}
}
delay(200);

41
TESTING

42
4.2 TESTING :

4.2.1 SYSTEM TESTING :

The testing stage that should be conducted in order to ensure the water flow
monitoring system may works properly. In this part of testing process, we did unit
testing to verify whether all the components were receiving the proper signal.
This testing was done by displaying the volume and speed of the waterflow in the
LCD. In second level of unit testing, we verified the output signal through arduino
IDE. In third level of unit testing, we have tested the complete functionality of
the system with the buzzer and RGB.

4.2.2 FUNCTIONAL-BASED TESTING:

The functional-based test is commonly known as a Black Box Testing is

one of the software tests approaches that examines only the functionality of the
system without seeing into detail the internal structure of the program code. The
trial test has been conducted with execution of the developed system with the help
of flow of the tap water. So, we have tested for different volume of water. We
received the results and output as expected.

43
CONCLUSION

44
 5. CONCLUSION

This project is a development of the Internet of Things (IoT) System

on Waterfall Water Level Monitoring for Warning. It aims to prevent injured

visitors at a waterfall which warning will be alerted on the increased water level

at the waterfall. The incident happened at the waterfall during high water level

occur suddenly, where visitors are unknown in the situations. The design system

is based on IoT System for Waterfall Water Level Monitoring where water level

sensors are used to detect high-level water. The waterflow sensor was used in

this system where the minimum time delay of the sensor was detected compared

with other sensors. The Arduino microcontroller board was used as an interface

from a sensor as input and output for data collections

The proposed IOT device would alert the people in-charge behind

the waterfall to clear the people before the flood, thereby saving the valuable

human lives.

45
 FUTURE
ENHANCEMENT

46
 6. FUTURE ENHANCEMENT

This development of a water monitoring system, with the objective of

notifying the user of the real-time waterflow parameters. The system is able to

measure the speed parameters of water.

In future , the project can be developed with some additional substances such

as adding wi-fi module, which can help the peoples by getting notifications in

their personal devices such as mobile phones, And by adding or extending the

device with any other objectives like better flow sensors or also we can

alternatively change the WATERFLOW SENSOR (YF-S201) by an Ultrasonic

sensor because, it will be more efficient then using the waterflow sensor but it is

not accurately providing the flow speed and velocity of the water in the waterfalls.

So, we can use the ultrasonic sensor alternatively for better enhancement.

47
BIBLIOGRAPHY
&
REFERENCES

48
7. WEB REFERENCE

1. https://how2electronics.com/arduino-water-flow-sensor-measure-flow-rate-
volume/#:~:text=minimum%20300%2C000%20cycles-
,Working%20of%20YFS201%20Hall%20Effect%20Water%20Flow%20Sensor%3A,mag
netic%20field%20perpendicular%20to%20it

2. Automated Waterfall Water Level Monitoring for Warning Phenomena | IEEE

Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore

3. .INSTRUCTABLES:
Arduino Projects - Instructables

4. TINKERCAD:
Circuits | Tinkercad

5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350771373_Design_and_Development_o
f_IoT_Based_Water_Flow_Monitoring_for_Pico_Hydro_Power_Plant

49