Flood disaster indicator of water level monitoring system

International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE)
Vol. 9, No. 3, June 2019, pp. 1694~1699
ISSN: 2088-8708, DOI: 10.11591/ijece.v9i3.pp1694-1699  1694
Journal homepage: http://iaescore.com/journals/index.php/IJECE
Flood disaster indicator of water level monitoring system
Wan Haszerila Wan Hassan, Aiman Zakwan Jidin, Siti Asma Che Aziz, Norain Rahim
Centre for Telecommunication Research and Innovation, Fakulti Teknologi Kejuruteraan Elektrik Elektronik (FTKEE),
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Malaysia
Article Info ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received Aug 11, 2018
Revised Nov 20, 2018
Accepted Dec 11, 2018
The early warning systems for flood management have been developed rapidly
with the growth of technologies. These system help to alert people early with
the used of Short Message Service (SMS) via Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM). This paper presents a simple, portable and low cost
of early warning system using Arduino board, which is used to control the
whole system and GSM shields to send the data. System has been designed
and implemented based on two components which is hardware and software.
The model determines the water level using float switch sensors, then it
analyzes the collected data and determine the type of danger present. The
detected level is translated into an alert message and sent to the user.
The GSM network is used to connect the overall system units via SMS.
Keywords:
Arduino board
Float switch sensors
Flood
GSM network
System units Copyright © 2019 Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science.
All rights reserved.
Corresponding Author:
Wan Haszerila Wan Hassan,
Centre for Telecommunication Research and Innovation,
Fakulti Teknologi Kejuruteraan Elektrik Elektronik (FTKEE),
Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM),
Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia.
Email: haszerila@utem.edu.my
1. INTRODUCTION
Flood is commonly occured natural disaster around the world. It will cause unsafely manner to human
by causing death, injury, damages and great property losses. In Malaysia, flood is considered as norm disaster
that happen escpecially during monsoon season at the end of the year. As Malaysia located near the equator,
the most worst climatic related natural disasters are monsoonal flood. Communities living around the low-
laying area are facing high risk of losses caused by flooding. This natural disaster is inevitable but with advance
warning system and early response, the destruction can be minimized. Forecasting and warning systems is one
of the methods that could significantly mitigate the impact of losses. Alerting or warning to notify the public
about the upcoming disaster in the early stages is very important as safety measures can be taken to prevent
unwanted mishaps.
The early warning system must be able to provide timely warning of imminent dangers, which gives
the local authorities time to prepare for effective response. There is a lack of concern in the substantial of an
early warning system eventhough the technologies are widely available. Warning might fail to reach the local
authorities and sometimes it may not be understood due to ineffective or unsuitable alert tools of
communication channels. However, with the advance of technologies produce simple and low cost tools that
can be used to solve such problems.
This paper focuses on flood disaster monitoring system to help local authority to provide more
systematic solution. The designed system can detect the floods and give continuous alert or information.
The information of water level can be detected by the sensors. The goal of the system is to alert the community,
so that safety precautions can be taken to protect their life and properties. The developed system utilizes GSM
and SMS to transmit data from sensors to the respective users through their mobile phone. By using GSM
module, GSM network can be used since it is much more accountable during flood season. An Arduino UNO

Int J Elec & Comp Eng ISSN: 2088-8708 
Flood disaster indicator of water level monitoring system (Wan Haszerila Wan Hassan)
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board has been used as the controlling device. This board is a low cost microcontroller, needs simple
programming and can be integrated with other devices via the input-output interfaces.
2. BASIC STRUCTURE AND WORKING PRINCIPLE
Basic structure of flood monitoring system is illustrated in Figure 1. The block diagram shows the
system consist of float switch sensors, an Arduino Uno controller, GSM module and mobile phone.
Figure 1. System structure of flood monitoring system
Three float switch sensors are used to differentiate the escalation level. The data send by the sensors
are handled by the Arduino Uno controller. The Arduino Uno controller has been program for different input
and send different output through transmission pin. Commands are send using C compiler program with
relevant (Attention) AT commands.
The transmitted output from the Arduino Uno controller is conveyed through to GSM module.
Then, SMS alarm send to the respective user. User receives different SMS depending on the level of sensors
detection. GSM network is being exploited to convey data to the user via SMS alarm. SMS via GSM network
has been proven to be reliable due to its works on a different band and can be sent or received although the
phone lines are congested. It also has the advantage of sending data to multiple users (SIMO) [1].
The working principle of the system is based on sensor detection shown in Table 1. The model of the
system contains of three sensors but with five conditions. It start with “SAFE CONDITION (No flood
detection)” if the three sensors at the lowest position of all float switch sensors. Thus, the message send through
GSM and display on the LCD. When the level one sensor receives a signal which means the water has increased
more than the threshold, a message “ALERT (Early detection and alert)” send to the mobile victims or
authorities and display as “Alert! (Level 1)” on the LCD. Level two sensor would be positioned higher than
level one sensor. The level two sensor detects the medium level of water with a message “MODERATE RISK
LEVEL (Respond to alert)” and display as “Moderate risk!! (Level 2)” on the LCD.
The highest positioned sensor which is level three detect the high level of water with a message “HIGH
RISK LEVEL (Rescue activities)” which inform the people the dangers situation of flood and display “High
risk!!! (Level 3)”. Lastly, the “TECHNICAL PROBLEM” send through GSM and display on the LCD if the
sensors have any problem such as malfunction or stuck to wastage. Two techniques are used to send the data
via SMS to the authorities and the public flood victims. The first technique use GSM to send the information
to publics. While, the second technique use GSM send the information to the authorities or mobile company,
which has ability to spread the information to all people who live in the flooding area.

 ISSN: 2088-8708
Int J Elec & Comp Eng, Vol. 9, No. 3, June 2019 : 1694 - 1699
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Table 1. SMS Contents Based On Conditions
Flood Switch Sensor
Conditions SMS Contents
Sensor (1) Sensor (2) Sensor (3)
0 0 0 SAFE CONDITION (RISK-FREE) SAFE CONDITION
(No flood detection)
0 0 1 TECHNICAL PROBLEM TECHNICAL PROBLEM
(Check the sensors)
(Check the sensors)
(Check the sensors)
1 0 0 ALERT! (LEVEL 1) ALERT LEVEL
(Early detection and alert)
(Check the sensors)
1 1 0 MODERATE RISK!! (LEVEL 2) MODERATE RISK LEVEL
(Respond to alert)
1 1 1 HIGH RISK!!! (LEVEL 3) HIGH RISK LEVEL
(Rescue activities)
3. HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION
In development of the flood monitoring device, the following components are used: Arduino Uno
microcontroller board based on the ATmega328, GSM modem, float switch sensors (RSF50 Series) and Liquid
crystal display (M1632 LCD) screen. The hardware design circuit is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Hardware design circuit
The three float switch sensors are located at the selected areas determined by the user. As the
requirements, these sensors are used to measure water level either in safe condition or in high risk zone.
The designed system able to identify five different conditions. An electric pulse is generated when detecting
the presence of water. The operation starts with data collection from float switch sensors and then pass to the
Arduino Uno microcontroller. The microcontroller analyzes the real time data and compare to the pre-
determined value. The outputs are presented in SMS and also displayed on the LCD screen. The programming

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part for microcontroller is using the Integrated Development Environment (IDE), which written in Java, is
based on the wiring project, an open source programming environment.
Figure 3 shows the prototype of flood monitoring system. The prototype of flood monitoring system
consists of two part which are receiver and transmitter. The transmitter part function to transmit and display
data from the sensors. Meanwhile, the receiver part receives data from the transmitter part and send to the
device that supports the local Telco Sim. All the monitoring process is conducted by placing the prototype in
the water tank. The height of water in the water tank with the sensors must be calibrated in order to obtain more
accurate results. The monitoring process is conducted at different time and weather to test the prototype
efficiency in all condition.
Figure 3. Prototype of flood monitoring system
4. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT
The data collection is collected through SMS input. The data is manually interpreted by the user or
local authority to declare the situation according with float switch sensor output. Figure 5 is example of data
obtained through SMS. The sequence has been programmed to be in the state as described in block diagram as
in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Block diagram of SMS to users Figure 5. SMS contents to users
Instead of output is presented in SMS form, the data collected also displayed on LCD screen in front
panel of float switch sensor to conduct error checking and calibration. Figure 6 shows the outputs display on
LCD screen. Figure 7 shows the data collection through serial monitor in IDE software. All data are interpreted
directly if the sensor detecting the water level. The data of all condition are collected into one page displayed.

 ISSN: 2088-8708
Int J Elec & Comp Eng, Vol. 9, No. 3, June 2019 : 1694 - 1699
1698
Figure 6. Data collection displayed on LCD
screen
Figure 7. Serial monitor in IDE software
5. FUTURE WORKS
For future improvement, the system can be upgraded with addition of the component in GUI with
more button functions. The GSM modem for transmitting the data to the control center can be used as it is
easily connected to the computer. Additionally, the float switch sensors can be replaced with the wireless sensor
as sensors are essential components in this framework. Exact and precise discovery of water level will enhance
the information gathering framework for the observing station. The collected data of flood alert information
can also be displayed on LED for road street clients and for security reasons.
A conceivable method for power supply for the sensors and brought together the control unit is by
means of solar cells. The flood disaster indicator through GSM using SMS will be easy to install and maintained
if it is powered by solar cells. The utilization of sunlight based vitality will likewise give less expensive
wellspring of energy to the whole framework to work particularly if the framework is set at the remote area.
For sustainability the circuits and control unit should be designed to consume minimum power during
operation.
6. CONCLUSION
Effective early floods warning system can be beneficial to the community and act as a precautionary
action for the victims in preventing loss of lives, trauma from disaster and property from damage. SMS is an
effective alert communication tools that can disseminate the information to floods victim in a particular area.
It is best for this system to add element of data mining and artificial intelligent, which could assist in analyzing
water level data, thus produce extensive graphs for better analysis. This outcome will help in future prediction
of water level behavior. From the finding made, the objectives of the project are successfully achieved, where
the circuit completely functioned. The data is finally been sent via GSM mobile, where it act as a modem for
the system. All three float switch sensors are detecting all the water level that consist of alert level, moderate
risk level and high risk level. Finally, data from input sensor and Arduino Uno microcontroller reached at the
control center.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to acknowledge our honorable university, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM).
Special appreciation and gratitude to especially the Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education for the financial
funding under Grant No. FRGS/1/2015/TK04/FTK/03/F00285 and providing instrumentation devices support
for completing this project.

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REFERENCES
[1] Z. Odli, et al., "Development of Portable Water Level Sensor for Flood Management System," Journal of Engineering
and Applied Sciences, vol. 11, no. 9, 2016.
[2] O. Intharasombat and P. Khoenkaw, “A Low-cost Flash Flood Monitoring System,” 7th International Conference on
Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (ICITEE), Chiang Mai, pp. 476-479, 2015.
[3] M. Helmi and B. I. N. Ali, “Early Warning System Using Radio Frequency,” Thesis, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
2014.
[4] N. M. Z. Hashim and N. B. Hamdan, “Flood Detector Emergency Warning System,” International Journal of
Engineering and Computer Science (IJECS), vol. 2, no. 8, pp. 2332–2336, 2013.
[5] E. Kuantama, et al., “Early flood alerts using Short Message Service (SMS),” Proceedings of the 2012 International
Conference on System Engineering and Technology, ICSET 2012, pp.3–7, 2012.
[6] A. K. Jha, et al., “Cities and Flooding:A Guide to Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management for the 21st Century,”
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[7] D. Han, “Flood Risk Assessment and Management,” Uk: Bentham Science Publishers, pp. 23-135, 2011.
[8] W.A.H.W.M Asmara and N.H.A Aziz, “SMS flood alert system,” Proceedings - 2011 IEEE Control and System
Graduate Research Colloquium, ICSGRC, pp. 18–22, 2011.
[9] I. A. Aziz, et al., “Cooperative flood detection using GSMD via SMS,” International Symposium on Information
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[10] M. Mouly and M.-B. Pautet, “The GSM system for mobile communications,” The University of Michigan: Cell &
Sys, pp. 1-125, 1992.
BIOGRAPHIES OF AUTHORS
Wan Haszerila Wan Hassan holds a Master of Electrical, Electronic & Telecommunication
Engineering from UTM and Bachelor of Electrical & Electronic Engineering from UTM. She has
previous working experience in semiconductor industry at Infineon Technologies Malaysia. She
joins Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) as lecturer on 2014. Her research area includes
Photonics, Optical Communication and Wireless Communication.
Aiman Zakwan Jidin obtained his MEng in Electronic and Microelectronic System Engineering
from ESIEE Engineering Paris France in 2011. He has 2 years of working experience in designing
digital IC and digital system in FPGA at Altera Corporation Malaysia, before joining Universiti
Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) as lecturer and researcher, in Electronics and Computer
Engineering. His research interests include FPGA Design and Digital System Design.
Siti Asma Binti Che Aziz earned her Master of Electrical, Electronic & System Engineering and
Bachelor of Electrical, Electronic & System Engineering from UKM. Before joining Universiti
Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), she has about 4 years working experience with Telekom
Malaysia Berhad. Her research interest include Optical Communication, Wireless
Communication.
Norain Binti Rahim has Master of Electrical Microelectronics & Computer System Engineering
from UTM and Bachelor of Computer Engineering from UniMAP. She conducts research on
Microprocessor and Embedded Systems.

Flood disaster indicator of water level monitoring system

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