Water theft and leakage detection system

Abstract

NWSC (National Water and Sewerage Corporation), as a water distribution company, faces significant challenges in ensuring the delivery of clean and safe water to its clients. Water theft, including meter tampering, meter reversals, meter bypass, and illegal connections, poses a major problem. Additionally, water leakages within the distribution network contribute to water losses and inefficiencies. This project focuses on developing a theft and leakage detection system for NWSC by leveraging the dynamic pressure variation along water distribution pipelines within specific pressure zones. The system incorporates web-based notifications using IoT and GSM based technologies. The proposed method involves programming a single Arduino microcontroller and interfacing it with flow rate sensors and a GSM modem. This setup establishes connectivity between the system and a web application served by a web database on a computer. The results demonstrate that any activity causing pressure variations and disrupting the normal distribution of piped water, including both theft and leakages, can be detected and reported via web-based notifications. By maintaining the pressure within a predefined range for a given pressure zone, the system accurately identifies and reports instances of water theft as well as potential leakages. This project contributes to the advancement of water theft and leakage detection systems for NWSC by utilizing the variation in dynamic pressure as a reliable indicator. The incorporation of IoT and web-based technologies enables immediate web-based notifications of potential theft incidents and leakage detection, empowering NWSC to respond swiftly and combat water theft,as well as address leakages, effectively. Implementing such a system improves resource management, reduces water losses, and ensures the equitable distribution of water to NWSC's clients while deterring illegal activities and promoting water conservation.