![]() To remotely monitor water flowing through my home’s meter (top), I attached a magnetometer and used an Arduino to read and process the raw data. Consequently, these coupled magnets produce a magnetic field around the meter that varies depending on how fast the water is flowing. As the water spins the rotor, this magnet turns another magnet in the meter’s gearbox. ![]() To isolate the gears of the actual meter from water exposure, a rotor is typically attached to a magnet in a separate chamber through which the water flows. SparkFun no longer sells that module, but for even less money (US $15), you can now purchase a 3-axis magnetometer, which I suspect would work just as well or even better.Ī magnetometer is valuable here because of the way mechanical water meters work. To measure water flowing from the municipal supply, I employed a digital compass-that is, a 2-axis magnetometer-that I originally purchased some time ago from SparkFun Electronics to use as a direction finder. How to Build Your Own Digital Water Meter youtu.be Now when my teenage kids take profligate showers, I can berate them with quantitative measurements! My system doesn’t require plumbing alterations, and it transmits the information via my home wireless network, so I can view water use on a connected device anywhere in the house. But who has the discipline for that? So I cobbled together a monitor that can show how much water my household is using in real time. You could, of course, track usage more finely by hoofing it out to your water meter periodically and noting the readings. But that’s not easy to do when information about your usage comes only once a month on your water bill. Most folks are happy to comply with such requests. But even here there have been years when water was in short supply and people were asked to conserve. Thankfully, I now reside in North Carolina, a much wetter state. Join the world’s largest professional organization devoted to engineering and applied sciences and get access to this e-book plus all of IEEE Spectrum’s articles, archives, PDF downloads, and other benefits.Ĭalifornia, where I once lived, is in the midst of a severe drought. Join the world’s largest professional organization devoted to engineering and applied sciences and get access toĪll of Spectrum’s articles, archives, PDF downloads, and other benefits. ![]() For more exclusive content and features, consider , including the ability to save articles to read later, download Spectrum Collections, and participate inĬonversations with readers and editors. 's Digital Edition is exclusive for IEEE Membersįollowing topics is a feature exclusive for IEEE MembersĪdding your response to an article requires an IEEE Spectrum accountĬreate an account to access more content and features on The Institute content is only available for membersĭownloading full PDF issues is exclusive for IEEE Membersĭownloading this e-book is exclusive for IEEE Members Saving articles to read later requires an IEEE Spectrum account Enjoy more free content and benefits by creating an account ![]()
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