Water is a very scarce resource that needs to be used sparingly by everyone. Many people around the world go for days without this very basic need. Many liters of water are lost through water taps that are either left unclosed or not closed properly every day, which is a concern for the world at large. Due to climate changes and other factors, we are gradually running out of underground water and the rain no longer falls as it used to do without the negative impact of climate changes.

A Smart Water Tap Leakage Controller IoT project is an IoT device that uses a motion detector to detect motion at a distance of not more than 60 centimeters from the water tap and open and close the water tap valve in a period of 30 seconds if it doesn’t continue detecting motion. If it happens that a water tap user either accidentally or intentionally leaves it open, the water tap will automatically be closed in less than 30 seconds and save this finite resource on the planet. Many people in our communities have a tendency to deliberately leave their water taps open and wait for their buckets to be fully filled while doing something else somewhere far away from the tap. This innovative project will help address issues of water scarcity and water quality on our planet. Water, as a basic need, needs to be used sparingly and protected from being wasted.

This IoT device is currently powered by a 12V/2A (24W) power adapter. This reliance on electricity as a power source for it to operate will, in the near future, be replaced by a 12V battery that is going to be charged by a solar panel. The main heart of this innovation project is the nRF9160 (SiP) on a Thingy:91 Development Board from Nordic Semiconductor ASA. This innovative project doesn’t only control the water tap valve, but also collects environmental sensor data around the water tap and sends it to a cloud-based service called IoT Core in AWS via Narrow-Band IoT. The Thingy:91 Dev Board has an onboard nRF5340 (SoC) that has a built-in Bluetooth LE.

Everyone has a role to play in saving water and lives. Using technology, we can make this a reality. The demo video shows how the final installation of the Smart Water Tap Leakage Controller IoT project works. The person in the video is a 39-year-old man fetching water at the community hall. When he leaves the water tap open and walks away, it automatically closes the 12V water flow selenoid valve and saves water. When he comes back to fetch another cup of water, it automatically opens when the PIR motion detector sensor detects his motion near the water tap. This motion detector sensor can detect motion at an angle of 120 degrees, which I didn't want. I covered the bottom part of the sensor in order to reduce the angle so that it does not detect the motion of people passing by.