IoT-Based Water Management Solution: Here is What You Need to Know

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Currently, in many places and even cities in the world, water management is a serious issue. So many people do not have access to clean water for their needs. Studies show that the main causes of these problems are both climate change and a fast-growing population.

However, there are other reasons for water challenges and they are tied to ineffective infrastructure, water pollution and badly set up water management systems. aside from these, there is also the need to reduce waste of water-intensive industries, proper monitoring of water quality and homes need to adopt the use of smart meters for enhanced water management.

There are existing possible means to address all these issues and IoT-based water management solution is the most viable one. “Whether a consumer, governmental structure, or agricultural business — every individual and industry can equally benefit from this.” (Kostiantyn Oliynyk, 2023).

There is a need for an innovative solution to be a system in place where the provision of running water is possible. This solution must be able to offer what the traditional water management system has been unable to offer. 

It also has to be able to effectively and sustainably address all the challenges of the water management system.

What is IoT-Based Water Management?

IoT-based water management is also known as a smart management solution.

Smart water management involves processes of planning, developing, distributing, and regulating the use of water resources. 

This requires the use of different but relevant IoT technologies to promote transparency and make more sensible and sustainable use of water resources.

IoT-based water management is applicable in different industries/sectors, including farming, industry, services, and (smart) cities. With this technology, there can be easy management and functions. 

These functions and managements include automatic tracking of pressure fluctuations along pipes and efficient monitoring of water consumption in homes.

Other things IoT-enabled water management companies can easily accomplish with the technology are; monitoring water levels, evaluating the quality of drinking water, and automatically detecting chemical leaks in rivers surrounding facilities.

According to WebbyLab, IoT-based water management systems make use of “sensors, controllers, meters, and other devices connected to mobile, web apps, and data processing and analysis tools.” These are actually the technologies that create a strong platform for the efficient supply and management of water.

The technologies, as WebbyLab claims, also play crucial roles in “freshwater quality checking, pollution detection, and more.” Smart management systems help in the evaluation of the water quality in aquariums for improvement. 

How Does an IoT-Enabled Water Management System Work?

IoT-enabled water management works by utilising IoT devices and smart sensors that are embedded in the water pipes and pumps. The purpose of this is to collect data on water temperature, water levels and water velocity.

The collected data are moved to a cloud-based server for advanced analysis which is performed online. From the results of the analyses, there are insights which when implemented or acted upon, will help in ensuring that the equipment is proactively maintained. The insights also play critical roles in ensuring that the water resources are effectively managed.

Benefits of IoT-Based Water Management Solution

IoT-Based Water Management Solution Reduces waste of water-intensive industries:

Water is used extensively in manufacturing, electricity generation, and agriculture. Farmers consume more than half of the water in the world. Additionally, the same farmers waste more than half of the water that they consume.

Such waste has a significant impact on the proportion of food supply and production worldwide.

Also, while Farmers face more unpredictable weather patterns that lead to hotter and drier growing seasons, they also struggle to maximise crop output, preserve soil health, and conserve water.

However, they are solving these problems by implementing IoT smart irrigation and crop water management systems. the innovation offers them the luxury of real-time water metering, which is very instrumental in minimising waste.

  • With the use of AI and Machine Learning in Farming, farmers can train machines to track treatment processes using data on temperature, humidity, and water flows. All of these data are collected by IoT-based water management solutions.
  • The IoT-based water management solution is important for assessing the effects of treatment plans.
  • IoT-based water management solution helps in providing useful insights on the amount of water and fertilisers that a farmland needs. This is very possible with the analysis of relevant data from IoT sensors.

IoT-based Water Management Solution for Monitoring Water Quality to Fight Pollution and Diseases

Rivers, the groundwater table and other sources of water supply may get contaminated by manufacturing and other human activities.

With traditional systems which employ manual methods, preventing such pollution from happening is very difficult. However, IoT-based water management solutions can help in preventing this by using smart sensors for real-time monitoring.

To achieve this, IoT devices can establish a connection with artificial intelligence (AI) software to record common parameters for water quality monitoring, such as pH, total dissolved solids (TDS)—which includes oxygen—the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), or temperature of various water types.

Machine learning algorithms train IoT systems to be able to anticipate water quality, and track a sanitising agent’s efficacy. Also, IoT systems can be trained to automatically modify the water treatment plan.

IoT-based Water Management Solution Improving The Efficiency Of Water Systems.

Water may be collected, treated, distributed, and recycled thanks to smart water systems. These systems, which are frequently installed underground, may burst, leak, or freeze. These days, infrastructures use these systems extensively.

The Internet of Things (IoT) can help with maintenance forecasts and prevent breakage, leakage, and equipment downtime by immediately monitoring pressure, flow, moisture, temperature, time difference between points and other characteristics within the systems. 

IoT-based water management solution for Creating awareness of household water use

People waste a lot of water in their homes, offices, and other places. Meanwhile, there is a lot that we can gain if they put conscious efforts into reducing such waste. But hey, these people are unaware of the potential benefits of changing their ways. 

What can we do?

We can change this with the use of IoT-based water management solutions with the use of smart meters. Smart metres are now widely used by electricity companies to conveniently and remotely monitor and charge water consumption.

Moreover, end users can easily access the information, which is a significant incentive.

Now, with smart meters, individual customers can save money by reducing their monthly water bills and regularly protecting water supplies. 

IoT can create awareness among users by explaining the benefits of using smart meters as well as how they can reduce their water bills if they adhere to the best water waste management practices.

Providing Running Water Through Innovative Solutions All Around the World

Water management takes more than simply effective water delivery. At times, the goal is to reach everyone.

Many people lack convenient access to flowing water in many developing nations. Plus, the infrastructures supporting water utilities are beset by inadequate funding, a dearth of public water sources, and inconsistent service delivery.

In many locations of the world, getting water is a daily struggle for those with inconsistent or poor earnings.

All of these can change with IoT-based water management solutions. When more people have this technology installed in their homes and are able to seamlessly make payments, they will try to manage waste by only using the amount of water that they need.

Smart meters will also allow them to remotely control their water dispensers so they can easily turn them off when they are away from home.

With the technology, consumers won’t feel the pain of paying too much for water because they will only pay for what they use.

Features of an IoT-based water management Smart Meter

End-to-End IoT Solution

One of the features of IoT water metering solutions is that they are end-to-end. They also consist of hardware, software, and connectivity. It helps you to get what you want as it saves energy and reduces waste. It also offers data in real-time so you can make informed decisions.

All-Inclusive Cost

The IoT-based water management solution – the smart meter is a software product that offers more. It offers the benefits of smart meters in smart metering infrastructures.

The cost of this is an all-inclusive one as it includes software, a water meter, smart valves, a smartphone app, billing services, and installation.

User-friendly Dashboard

IoT-based water management solution meter dashboard is user-friendly and easy to use. This means the users can easily access different features of the meter for their needs and adjustments.

They are also accessible through mobile apps and websites. Customers can even personalise the display dashboards according to their projects.

Wide Area Coverage

The IoT-based water management solution – smart meter implementation, is not built for use in small residential areas, it can also be used in larger areas and even cover an entire city. Also, IoT meters allow several multiple gateways for larger area installations if such coverage is required.

Advanced-Data Analytics

With IoT-based water management solutions and smart metering systems, customers and consumers have access to advanced analytics features.

The feature enables the identification of different patterns of water consumption, it also gathers data on consumption history with comparisons.

IoT-enabled meters allow you to use the insights from the data to make future predictions on water demands. The insights also enable the optimisation of water demand and supply.

Reliability

IoT-based water meter management solutions use cloud-based services for efficiency. This is also where all data are stored and analysed for insights. So, in case of any disaster or failure, there is a backup which allows to access the usage information at any time.

IoT-Based Water Management Solution for Quality Water

It is very important that we pay keen attention to the quality of water entering our homes. This is because in addition to the possibility of harmful chemicals in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, urbanisation and global population growth degrades water quality.

We need efficient monitoring to ensure that our water is very clean and safe. Or at least that they are good enough to serve the purpose we want them to. For such monitoring, IoT-enabled water management can help.

The technology offers enhanced and advanced ways of monitoring water supply and analysing relevant data. It can ensure that the distribution of water and the water quality with regulatory criteria in our ever-changing world.

Why IoT-Enabled Water Management is a Great Tool for Ensuring Top Quality

Let us see what water monitoring for ensuring top-quality supply looks like without deploying smart water management IoT solutions.

In the absence of IoT in water management, the process will follow a manual direction. This means all the data and data analysis will also be manually done. However, the problem here is that manual processes like these are very expensive and time-consuming.

Also, the process requires large and several equipment. To cap it all, you must have to cough out huge sums of money to pay your workforce.

But with IoT-enabled smart water management IoT solutions, you have tools like smart IoT sensors which are efficient in measuring different parameters for data collection. The IoT device collects data like the temperature, pressure, turbidity, and pipeline health.

The sensors can also fetch data and insights from global samples to perform quality control on water reserves, even in remote locations.

The Role of IoT in Agricultural Water Management

According to Veerpal Kaur and Ramandeep Kaur, in traditional irrigation systems, as much as “50% of water is wasted”. This is in most cases due to activities of “overwatering caused by inefficiencies in the traditional irrigation methods and systems.”

This is a serious agricultural problem and to address it, “IoT-enabled smart irrigation system helps farmers to avoid wastages of water.” The technology also offers methods of improving the “quality of crops by irrigating at the correct time”

Aside from the fact that the world’s population has increased dramatically in recent years, there are other new developments as well. 

For example, global crop production has increased due to changes in food consumption patterns.

This change in pattern calls for smarter use of water as a scarce or over-supplied resource which is already having negative impacts on yields. Poor water management systems in the agricultural sector account for a large percentage of low farm produce around the world.

The adoption and implementation of IoT in agricultural water management are playing leading roles in making water management smarter and more efficient. IoT-enabled water management solution is improving agricultural practices more than it has ever been.

How Does IoT in Agricultural Water Management Work?

IoT for Water Tank Monitoring

This innovation works when you

  • Insert the sensor into the water tank. The sensors are used to (collect data) check the water level.
  • All data move to the cloud via an online mobile application with good internet connection.
  • The data on water level (if that is the case) is analysed an made available to the user or farmer through the mobile app.
  • Farmers can use their smartphones to check the water level.
  • The motor will turn on automatically if the water level is low and will turn off automatically if the water level is high.

Note that this technique can be set to either work automatically or with the farmer’s input.

How Does IoT-Based Irrigation Management Work

Smart IoT-based irrigation management systems use both temperature sensors and soil sensors.

They are placed on the field and their work is to automatically collect data and send it to the farmer. This happens to an information gateway system.

Weather-based smart irrigation controllers use the local weather data to monitor and modify irrigation schedules.

So, if you are using the IoT in an agricultural water management system, you can easily implement a smart irrigation system. This will help you to enhance your crop fields and provide you with the control that you need to prevent water waste.

Also, the technology has sensors that will help you in tracking different parameters, including soil moisture, temperature, and humidity.

With this, you will be able to determine the amount of water that your crops require. In the IoT-enabled sprinkler irrigation systems, you can link the sensors to the field and sprinklers. They work by also sending constant updates to farmers on their smartphones.

When you integrate your IoT water management solution with AI technology you can even do more. 

For example, you can carefully and ahead of time, plan agricultural activities.

IoT-based crop water management enables farmers to grow the same quantity of crops with less water. They can also use less fertiliser, utilise less energy to pump water and save money and time on labour.

FAQs on IoT-based water management solutions

What are the challenges of implementing an IoT-based water management solution? 

Some of the challenges of implementing an IoT-based water management solution include.

Cost, Complexity, Security, Data Management 

  • Cost: IoT-based water management solutions can be expensive, particularly for larger systems.
  • Complexity: Designing and implementing IoT-based water management solutions can be a complex task.
  • Security: These solutions are susceptible to cyberattacks, necessitating the implementation of robust security measures.
  • Data Management: IoT-based water management solutions generate vast amounts of data, making data management and analysis a challenge.
  • Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Utilizing AI and ML to analyze water data and provide insights and recommendations.
  • Low-Cost & Energy-Efficient Sensors: Development of affordable and energy-efficient IoT sensors.
  • Cloud-Based IoT Platforms: A growing adoption of cloud-based IoT platforms.
  • Integration with Smart Cities: Increasing integration of IoT-based water management solutions with other smart city applications.

What are some of the future applications of IoT-based water management? 

  • Real-Time Monitoring and Control: Monitoring and controlling water distribution systems in real time.
  • Predictive Maintenance: Predictive maintenance of water infrastructure to prevent breakdowns.
  • Smart Irrigation Systems: Efficient and automated irrigation systems.
  • Personalized Conservation Recommendations: Providing personalized recommendations for water conservation.
  • Water Quality Monitoring: Managing water quality at scale.

How can I learn more about IoT-based water management solutions? 

To learn more about IoT-based water management solutions, explore these resources:

  • Industry Publications and Websites
  • White Papers and Webinars
  • Case Studies
  • Trade Shows and Conferences

What are some examples of IoT-based water management solutions? 

  • Smart Water Meters
  • Leak Detection Systems
  • Water Quality Monitoring Systems
  • Irrigation Automation Systems
  • Wastewater Treatment Plant Optimization Systems

How much does an IoT-based water management solution cost? 

The cost of IoT-based water management solutions depends on their size and complexity, but the benefits often outweigh the costs.

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