How Can IoT Help in Water Management System?

The Internet of Things is associated with almost every luxury in our life ranging from smart cities to smart homes, traffic management system to transportation and various other fields. Water Management System is one such field which is highly impacted by the Internet of Things. It is definitely challenging to ensure the proper utilization of water, but proper implementation of IoT technology in Water Management Systems will surely make our lives convenient and conserve our valuable resources.

According to United Nations Development Programme, water scarcity is caused mainly because of the poor management of the resource. It is believed that almost half of the world population will face water scarcity by 2025 which clearly indicates that water will be a valuable resource in near future.

Let’s dive deep to find out how IoT can benefit the water industry:

• Water Conservation– It is important for reservoirs and overhead water tanks to have sensors and equipment which are specially designed to display the level of water present in it. With the help of these sensors, the water level in the reservoir or the overhead tank can be sent to the server at regular intervals to calculate the amount of water used on a daily basis. This entire process of determining the water level in the reservoir and then reflecting it on to the main server will surely help in conserving water
• Smart Irrigation– Presently, we see a huge amount of water getting wasted during the irrigation process. This is because the process of irrigation is scheduled automatically at a particular time irrespective of the weather condition and moisture present in the soil. This problem of water wastage can be tackled with the use of IoT. IoT sensors can determine the weather condition and the soil moisture which will help in getting the right amount of water at the appropriate time to the desired place.
• Smart Water Management- Water conservation is one of the essential aspects in water management, specifically in urban areas, where keeping a record of water consumption is extremely challenging. This issue can be solved using IoT which will keep a record of people using water on a particular day. We can analyze the data and the weather condition of that day to determine the amount of water consumed by the people on a particular city. This will surely help the water authorities manage the flow of water in much more effective manner. 
• Waste Water Management- The biggest challenge in water management is to monitor water levels, leakages, water quality and the flow of water through different channels. IoT can come to our rescue in all these areas. Sensors installed at various places in the water system can detect the temperature changes, water leakage, chemical leakage, and pressure level in it. These sensors will then collect the information and send it to the main server.  This will ensure that service engineers solve the issues quickly. Another advantage of IoT in wastewater management is that it can detect and calculate the amount of chemical residue present in the water.
• Water Quality Testing and Analysis- The internet of things can be used for measuring and monitoring the data captured and drawing a real-time analysis of water testing in industries like manufacturing, energy etc. IoT can also be used for public utility companies in the field. The readings are provided to the end users with the help of water testing meters and sensor devices. The end user can get information like Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Bacteria, Chlorine, Electrical conductivity, etc. This will help in accessing the real-time, accurate quantification of results and will also provide the ability to pinpoint the problem areas.