2017 International Conference on Computer, Communications and Electronics (Comptelix)

Manipal University Jaipur, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur & IRISWORLD, July 01-02, 2017

Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring System using

Internet of Things
Brinda Das, P.C. Jain
Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering.,
Shiv Nadar University, G. Noida-201314 (UP) India
[email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract-The conventional method of testing water quality is to in time accordingly [1],[2]. Cost of the system depends on
gather samples of water manually and send to the lab to test and number of parameters to be measured. Water quality
analyze. This method is time consuming, wastage of man power, monitoring systems need to quickly identify any changes in
and not economical. The water quality measuring system that we the quality of water and report the same to the officials for
have implemented checks the quality of water in real time
immediate action. The system is designed for continuous on-
through various sensors (one for each parameter: pH,
conductivity, temperature) to measure the quality of water. The site sensing and real time reporting of water quality data
ZigBee module in the system transfers data collected by the where the officials can access the data on the smart phone/PC
sensors to the microcontroller wirelessly, and a GSM module through Internet. Our proposed system employs use of
transfers wirelessly the data further from the microcontroller to multiple sensors to measure the parameters, measures the
the smart phone/PC. The system also has proximity sensors to quality of water in real-time for effective action, and is
alert the officials by sending a message to them via the GSM economical, accurate, and required less manpower. In this
module in case someone tries to pollute the water body. This paper section 2 discusses about literature survey on water
system can keep a strict check on the pollution of the water quality monitoring while section 3 discusses on Internet of
resources and be able to provide an environment for safe
Things. Section 4 discusses implementation of water quality
drinking water.
monitoring system, and results obtained through the system
Keywords-Water quality, pH, Conductivity, IoT, ZigBee, are discussed in section 5. Section 6 concludes the paper.
GPRS/GSM, WiMAX
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
1. INTRODUCTION
The available water resources are getting depleted and water
Water is one of the most essential natural resource that has quality is deteriorated due to the rapid increase in population
been gifted to the mankind. But the rapid development of the and need to meet demands of human beings for agriculture,
society and numerous human activities speeded up the industrial, and personal use. The quality of ground water is
contamination and deteriorated the water resources. For above also affected by pesticides and insecticides. The rivers in India
water quality monitoring is necessary to identify any changes are getting polluted due to industrial waste and discharge of
in water quality parameters from time-to-time to make sure its untreated sewage. In order to eliminate problems associated
safety in real time. The Central Pollution Control Board with manual water quality monitoring, CPCB has planned to
(CPCB) has established a series of monitoring stations on go hi-tech and plans to establish ‘Real Time Water Quality
water bodies across the country which monitor the water Monitoring (WQM) Network’ across Ganga Basin. Stephen
quality on either monthly or yearly basis. This is done to Brosnan, 2007 [3] investigated a wireless sensor network
ensure that the water quality is being maintained or restored at (WSN) to collect real time water quality parameters (WQP).
desired level. It is important that it is monitored on regular Quio Tie-Zhn, 2010 [4] developed online water quality
basis. Water quality monitoring helps in evaluating the nature monitoring system based on GPRS/GSM. The information
and extent of pollution control required, and effectiveness of was sent by means of GPRS network, which helped to check
pollution control measures. CPCB has plans to establish water remotely the WQP. Kamal Alameh, 2011[5] presented web
quality monitoring network across Ganga river basin. All the based WSN for monitoring water pollution using ZigBee and
stations will operate in real time and central station can access WiMAX networks. The system measured various WQP. It
data from any of the above stations using GPRS/GSM or 3G collected, processed measured data from sensors, and directed
cellular services. State pollution boards and CPCB zonal through ZigBee gateway to the web server by means of
offices can also access data from central station. Large amount WiMAX network to monitor quality of water from large
of data can help to take right decisions and also to implement distances. System was capable of monitoring water pollution
in real time. Dong He, 2012 [6] developed WQM system

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based on WSN [7]. The remote sensor was based on ZigBee numeric data like averaging, median, summing, rounding and
network. WSN tested WQP and sent data to Internet using time scaling. ThingSpeak channel supports 8 data fields,
GPRS. With the help of Web, information was gathered at elevation, latitude, longitude, and status. ThingSpeak can send
remote server. Kulkarni Amruta, 2013 [8] created solar sensors data to cloud to store data in a channel using sensors
powered WQM utilizing remote sensor network. The Base and websites. Cloud provides easy access to the stored data.
station (BS) gathered information from distant remote sensors. ThingSpeak channel data now can be analyzed, visualized,
The BS associated with ZigBee module was powered by can calculate new data, or interact with web sites and social
sunlight baseboard (Energy harvesting). media. With this one can calculate new data, and visualize
data in the form of plots, charts, and gauges using analytical
III. INTERNET OF THINGS tools online. ThingSpeak can access MATLAB to provide
sensor data. It uses tools for devices to communicate for
Internet of Things (IoT) is defined as the network of physical actions. One can react both to raw data and new data in a
objects/things - devices, vehicles, buildings embedded with channel and also can help devices to execute by queuing the
sensor, micro-controller, and network connectivity that commands.
enables these objects to collect and exchange data. The IoT
can be described as a huge web of embedded objects designed IV. IMPLEMENTATION
with built-in wireless technologies such that they can be
monitored, controlled and linked within the existing Internet This system makes use of three sensors (pH, conductivity,
infrastructure. Each device has a unique identification and temperature), processing module microcontroller, and two
must be able to capture real-time data autonomously. Basic data transmission modules Zigbee and GSM. The three
building blocks of IoT consist of sensors, processors, sensors capture the data in the form of analog signals. The
gateways, and applications. It is estimated that by 2020, 50 ADC converts these signals into the digital format. These
billion ‘things’ will be connected to the Internet [9]. Wireless digital signals are sent to the microcontroller via a Zigbee
technologies such as the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, RFID, module. The microcontroller will process the digital
6LoWPAN (IPv6 Low power Wireless Personal Area information, analyze it, and further communication is done by
Network) allow the devices to be connected to the Internet and the GSM module, which sends an SMS with the water quality
to each other. The cloud services collect, store, and analyze parameters onto the smart phone/PC, which also displayed on
the data collected by the sensors and allow people to take a the LCD of the micro controller. Fig. 1 shows the water
decision accordingly. quality monitoring system. Microcontroller accepts and
Mobile data management applications are being increased processes the data collected from the sensors to the Web page
because of the rapid spread of mobile phones. Smart phones via Wi-Fi module. This is carried out with the help of coding.
now has become platform both for computing and The code is written in Embedded-C and using the Keil
communication. Mobile phones are becoming cheaper, easier uVision software to simulate the code. We have used
to use, and can be used for multiple types of information evaluation version of MDK-ARM v4 for C programming.
transmission. The mobile data applications along with sensor Flash magic is a software tool used for burning the .hex files
technology can improve the efficiency as well as accuracy of to NXP Controllers.
the data reporting for water quality monitoring system. Smart
phones/tablets having sensors embedded with display and
keypad can be connected to the Internet with an IP address System Design
(satisfies every requirement of an IoT device). They will serve
as the hub/remote control for IoT. In Ubiquitous Network
Architecture smart things are part of the Internet; authorized
users have access to information; servers act as a sink to
collect data from each object.

A. ThingSpeak

ThingSpeak is an IoT applications open source (OS) which

can store and retrieve data from sensors or things using Local
Area Network (LAN) or HTTP over Internet. One can create
applications like sensor logging, location tracking, and social
network of things with status updates with the help of Fig, 1. Water Quality Monitoring System
ThingSpeak [10]. API of ThingSpeak permits processing of

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 application. We use AT commands to connect to Wi-Fi
networks and open TCP connections without need to have
TCP/IP stack running in our own microcontroller. By just
directing connecting the microcontroller to this module, we
can start pushing data up to the Internet (Central server).

A. Sensors

A sensor is a transducer device to detect events or changes in

its environment, and then provide a corresponding electrical
output. The most important characteristics of a sensor are
precision, resolution, linearity, and speed. Sensor calibration
Fig. 2.Water Quality Monitoring System improves the sensor performance. The performance can be
Implementation enhanced by removing structural errors in the sensor outputs.
Structural errors can be find out by taking difference between
The water quality monitoring system shown in Fig. 2 employs sensor's measured output and its expected output. Above
sensors to collect the data (parameters: pH, temperature, repeatable errors calculated during calibration are
Electric Conductivity (EC). This data is processed through the compensated in real time during measurements carried out by
LPC2148 microcontroller module and transferred via the sensors.
ESP8266 Wi-Fi data communication module to the central
server. This data can be accessed by the authorized users by 1) pH Sensor
logging into their accounts using a User ID and password to
pH is a measure of how acidic or basic alkaline the water? It is
view data. The data is collected, processed, analyzed, and
defined as the negative log of the hydrogen ion concentration.
transmitted and displayed all in real time.
The pH scale is logarithmic and goes from 0 to 14. The pH
The LPC2148 microcontroller is based on real time emulation
term translates the values of the hydrogen ion concentration. It
and embedded trace support. It supports embedded high speed
is low for acidic and high for alkaline solutions. A natural
flash memory. Due to its low power consumption and small
source of water pH is around 7. For each increase in number
size, it is good to use where size is a key requirement for
of pH, the hydrogen ion concentration decreases ten-fold and
access control and point-of-sale applications. It is suitable for
water becomes less acidic. A pH sensor has measuring
gateways and protocol converters in communication, soft
electrode and a reference electrode. A battery positive
modem, voice recognition, low resolution imaging, and
terminal connected to the measuring electrode and negative
provides high processing power and large buffer size [11].
terminal to the reference electrode. The reference electrode
The ESP8266 is a low cost Wi-Fi module consists of Wi-Fi
provides fixed potential and when pH sensor immersed in the
chip with full TCP/IP stack and micro controller chip
solution, the reference electrode does not change with
manufactured by M/S Espruino [12]. Above module is a
changing hydrogen ion concentration. The measuring
WLAN network, which hosts the applications or offload Wi-
electrode sensitive to hydrogen ion develops a potential
Fi network functions from other application processor. During
directly related to the hydrogen ion concentration of the
hosting the applications it boots up directly from external
solution. The differential voltage of electrodes changes with
flash. Performance of the system is improved and memory
the temperature, so a temperature sensor is also necessary to
requirement is also minimized because of its integrated cache.
correct the change in voltage.
Wireless Internet access can be introduced to any
microcontroller based design using CPU AHB bridge
2) Electric Conductivity Sensor
interface or UART interface when Wi-Fi module works as
Wi-Fi adapter. Salts dissolve in water breaks into positive and negative ions.
ESP8266 uses serial transceiver (Tx/Rx) to send and receive Dissolved ions are the conductors and conductivity is the
data in Ethernet buffers, and serial commands to query and ability of water to conduct an electrical current. The major
change configurations of the Wi-Fi module. It only requires positively charged ions are sodium, calcium, potassium, and
two wires (Tx/Rx) to communicate between a micro- magnesium and the major negatively charged ions are
controller and Wi-Fi module. It offloads Wi-Fi-related tasks to chloride, sulfate, carbonate, and bicarbonate. Nitrates and
the module, allowing the microcontroller code to be very phosphates are minor charged ions to the conductivity.
light-weighted. Wi-Fi Module is addressable over SPI and Electric conductivity is measured with the help of a probe and
UART, making it easy to build an Internet of Things a meter. The probe consists of two metal electrodes spaced 1

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cm apart (unit: mili- or micro-Siemens per cm). A constant and password, it goes to the web page where the parameters
voltage is applied across electrodes. The current flow through are displayed in real-time in the form of plots.
the water is proportional to the concentration of dissolved ions
in the water, which measures the electrical conductivity. The
dissolved salts concentration is directly proportional to
electrical conductivity. Total dissolved solid (TDS)
determines the quantity of minerals and salts reside within the
water. TDS in water is determined by multiplying the
conductivity by a factor of 0.67.

B. Working with ThingSpeak

Getting started
x Sign-up to create a new account in ThingSpeak
x Create a new channel to store the data from sensors
x ThingSpeak has a ‘status update field’ to send any
additional information required on the page Fig. 3. Data Logging on ThingSpeak
x Give the field names: pH, Temp, conductivity, TDS
x If you check ‘public’, other people can access your To demonstrate the quality of water, the pH sensor and EC
data sensor is put into a container filled with tap water, to which 3-
4 drops of acid is added. From the graphs in Fig. 4 shown
x Click on ‘Save channel’
below, we can see that the pH of the water remains at around
x An API key is created. An application programming 3 to 4.5 means the water is acidic in nature. The temperature
interface (API) key is a code passed in by computer of the surrounding stays between 32 to 34 degrees. The
programs calling an API to identify the calling conductivity of water is at 7 to 9 microSiemens/centimeter.
program (its developer, or its user to the Web site.) Total Dissolved Solids are 0.67*electrical conductivity which
can be measured from the graph.
Sending data to ThingSpeak channel
x Chrome Poster- a developer tool that allows us to VI. CONCLUSIONS
interact with the http server
x Copy the URL provided in Poster The low cost, efficient, real-time water quality monitoring
x Enter ‘key=APIkey&pH=3.5’ in the ‘Content body’. system has been implemented and tested. Through this
This will put the data (3.5) into the pH field system, the officials can keep track of the levels of pollutions
x Click on ‘Post’ occurring in the water bodies and send immediate warnings to
x If everything is successful, ThingSpeak API status the public. This can help in preventing diseases caused due to
polluted water and presence of metals. Quick actions can be
will be ‘200 OK’.
taken to curb extreme levels of pollution like in the case of the
x We can keep adding any number of values. The Ganga and Yamuna rivers. The system can be easily installed,
status window shows the number of values. with the base station kept close to the target area, and the task
x Select ‘View Charts’ to create a chart out of the data of monitoring can be done by less-trained individuals.
sent to ThingSpeak channel. Performance modeling in different environment is important
x Through ‘Embed code’ given at the bottom of the to study in future because different kind of monitoring
window, we can give other people access to the application requires different arrangement during system
channel. installation.
x Data importing from the sensors, and then exporting Internet of Things (IoT) and its services are becoming part of
the data onto the channel, all takes place in real-time our everyday life, ways of working, and business. There is a
basis. great deal of research on developing crucial building blocks
and models for the next generation Internet services supported
V. RESULTS by a plethora of connected things. With the help of efficient
and intelligent use of mobile network, IoT has revolutionized
Authorized users can access data by logging on ThingSpeak the world. It is changing the future of technology and how
website as shown in Fig. 3. On entering the registered user ID objects behave around us? It won’t be long when we can

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access any information and command objects at the touch of Advanced Transducers and intelligent Control System Lab, Taiyuan
Technical University, Taiyuan, China, 2010
fingertips.
[5] Steven Silva, Hoang N Ghia Nguyen, Valentina, Tiporlini, Kamal
Alameh, “Web based Water Quality Monitoring with Sensor Network:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Employing ZigBee and WiMAX Technology”, 36th IEEE Conf. on
Local Computer Networks,
2011
The authors are thankful to Prof. Dinkar Prasad, Head, EE
[6] Donge He, Li-Xin Zhang, “The Water Quality Monitoring System based
Dept., and Associate Director, School of Engg., Shiv Nadar on Wireless Sensor Network” Report: Mechanical and Electronic
University, G. Noida (UP), India for providing necessary Information Institute, China University of Geo- Science, Wu Hen,
resources and infrastructure to conduct this project work and China, 2012
[7] Pavlos Papageorgiou, “Literature Survey on Wireless Sensor
for his encouragement, and permission to publish this paper.
Networks”, Report: University of Maryland, 16 July 2003
[8] Satish Turken, Amruta Kulkarni, “Solar Powered Water Quality
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Fig. 4. Water Quality parameters (pH, Temperature, Conductivity, and TDS) Measurement Results

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