Blogs
18 July 2024
Reading Time: 7 mins
Eseye
IoT Hardware and Connectivity Specialists
LinkedInWater is an essential resource for human survival and even though planet Earth’s surface is around 75% water, only around 1% of that is fresh water. This water must be carefully conserved, because while it is a renewable resource, it is also a finite one. This presents a global challenge in preserving water for drinking, agriculture, and manufacturing for current and future generations.
Challenges: storage for a precious resource
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), water consumption has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, pushing more regions close to the limit at which usable water can be sustainably delivered.
By 2025, 1.8 billion people are expected to be living in regions with “absolute” water scarcity and two-thirds of the world population could be under “stress” conditions.
It’s not just the population explosion that’s the cause of water shortages, but the increased use of water in industries such as agriculture, chemicals, and manufacturing, with agriculture and farming consuming around 70% of the world’s freshwater.
These trends and associated challenges have resulted in steady sales of water tanks across the globe, for storage of potable water, rainwater, irrigation water, water for construction, water for animals, water for usage inside houses and public buildings, and a multitude of other types of water stored for various use cases.
Water tanks are commonly built of polyethylene, steel, or fiberglass due to the easy availability of such materials and straightforward installation. However, the intended use case will depend on the materials used, especially as plastic tanks are known to alter the properties of water, leading to concerns about water safety for water stored for human consumption.
The location of water tanks also varies depending on the use case, with many tanks being positioned outside or on top of buildings, but an increasing number also being placed underground.
In all cases, the volume and location of water tanks is creating a sizable market and opportunity for water tank monitoring technologies, not just for availability and usage levels but also for water quality. Use cases that are all perfectly served by IoT and M2M connected sensor technologies.
Water storage everywhere
Asia Pacific and Europe are expected to continue dominating regional demand for water storage tanks due to high population concentration in these regions and increased adoption of water tanks for water storage in multiple vertical sectors, according to Straits Research.
In terms of verticals, it is expected that industrial or institutional usage will drive the most demand for water tanks due to a worldwide increase in the number of public spaces and commercial establishments, including shopping malls, public parks, construction sites, and chemical plants.
Meanwhile, Straits Research expects the residential segment to be the second largest driver, with outdoor and roof-mounted water tanks remaining popular for water delivery, but with underground water storage tanks becoming increasingly popular as global and regional water shortages worsen.
In these use cases and beyond, water tanks can be used for storage of drinking water, irrigation in agriculture, fire suppression for municipalities, agricultural farming, both for crops and livestock, chemical manufacturing, food preparation, and industrial manufacturing.
Smart water tank monitoring solutions
IoT-enabled sensors and monitoring devices can help businesses monitor the level of not just water but all fluids stored in tanks, including fuel and chemicals. IoT tank monitoring devices can help ensure tanks are neither overfilled nor underfilled and can provide insights into usage patterns for individual tanks, helping identify potential issues, such as leaks, allowing for proactive maintenance and problem-solving.
Battery-operated IoT submersible sensors, ruggedized and IP rated – such as IP69 waterproofed – are able to deliver near real-time updates, tracking even the smallest changes in the tank’s water level.
With a battery life of up to a decade, these IoT sensors enable long-lasting performance, delivering up-to-date insights into resource management, and helping enterprises and authorities make well-informed decisions about water usage and replenishment.
Water tank overflows can be as much of a problem as an underutilized tank, especially in regions where seasonal rainfall can alternately result in excess supply and shortages of water. Tank overflows can mean water is lost instead of stored and because it’s often challenging to gauge the amount of water in a tank at any given time, there is a risk of running out of water when it is needed most.
Real-time monitoring of water tank levels can prevent overflows and identify leakages, ensuring optimal water use and contributing to water conservation efforts.
Proactive water management is also an issue. Although water, especially drinking water, must be stored, it cannot be stored indefinitely and its lifespan will change depending on the build materials and quality of the tank. Poor water quality water tanks can lead to health issues in humans, including digestive problems and skin conditions, and there are recent newspaper reports of water borne viral and parasitic outbreaks in developed countries.
Unmanaged water tanks can also lead to equipment damage in industrial settings, due to a buildup of sediments and corrosion, which could be passed on to water-related equipment or pipes.
As a result, many IoT water tank or liquid tank solutions offer additional monitoring capabilities, including:
- Fluid level
- Pressure
- PH levels
- Temperature
- Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
- Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP)
- Salinity
- Conductivity
- Free chlorine levels (contaminant neutralization)
Benefits of smart water tanks
Smart water and fluid tank monitoring with IoT delivers several benefits for organizations, including:
Improved efficiency
Eliminating the need for manual checks on fluid levels and reducing the risk of human error.
Cost savings
Remote monitoring of fluid tank levels allows businesses to avoid stockouts, optimize deliveries, and improve storage container usage, resulting in cost savings and better decision-making.
Improved safety
Remote tank level monitors reduce the need for staff to climb tanks or enter confined spaces, especially in industrial environments such as chemical manufacturing or oil and gas.
Environmental considerations
By monitoring tank levels for overflows and leaks, organizations can identify and reduce spills and leaks that might impact the environment.
Smart water tank monitoring use cases
Water utilities
Smart water tank level monitors are used to track levels in water storage tanks in municipalities or residential sectors. This ensures an adequate water supply for everyday human usage and maintains levels of stored water for periods of high demand or emergencies.
IoT monitoring prevents overflows and underflows, helps detect leaks, and monitors water quality to stop contamination.
Oil, fuel, and chemicals
IoT tank level sensors can also monitor oil and fuel storage tanks as well as water tanks used in the oil industry, ensuring that they are filled to the appropriate level and that there are no leaks. For fuel and chemical storage, overflows could also be a safety hazard.
Agriculture and Smart Farming
Tank monitoring systems are used to monitor irrigation tanks for crops and drinking water for animals, enabling farmers to ensure that they have enough resources to meet their needs. By monitoring tank levels, farmers can ensure that crops are not over or under watered and ensure they have water in reserve for droughts.
For other liquid storage, farmers can monitor fertilizer and pesticide use by monitoring tank levels and ensuring that they use the correct amount of these substances.
Case studies
Connecting the water industry
Ovarro provides technology for water network management and leakage control in water, oil and gas, broadcast, and transportation, and required a connectivity solution that would resolve inconsistent and poor coverage they were experiencing.
Fueling the UK
Gilbarco Veeder-Root leads the field in the manufacturing of fuel dispenser technology and integrated fueling solutions. Connectivity is the key to unlocking data from individual devices at retail fueling sites.
Sustainable cleaning solutions
PathoSans’ on-site cleaning generator is connected via the cellular network using Eseye’s Hera 604 router. Each generator has multiple sensors collecting data on various parameters such as voltage, current, and pH, so that it can produce environmentally responsible cleaning, disinfectant and degreasing solutions. IoT helps track usage and avoids any problems caused by interruptions to the supply chain.
Global IoT connectivity for water tank monitoring
Ensuring smart water tank monitors and sensors work reliably and consistently means water and liquid stores are managed effectively.
A convenient solution is to use a multi-IMSI SIM like Eseye’s AnyNet+ SIM. We have agreements with all the major global mobile network operators and can connect to whichever network has the best capacity at the time and place the mobile payments terminal is used.
Eseye’s AnyNet SMARTconnect™ gives IoT devices the intelligence to swap to another network if connectivity drops, and future-proofs the device by allowing new networks and operators to be easily introduced. It also provides the building blocks to enable connectivity applets with access to multiple RATs – for example cellular, Zigbee, Thread, Bluetooth, LoRaWAN and satellite.
Hera – our range of specialist IoT edge hardware – meets your evolving IoT needs for consistency and reliability.
Hardware and software is underpinned by Eseye’s Infinity IoT Platform, connectivity management software that gives payment services providers and card reader suppliers optimized connectivity for each device, as well provide full-lifecycle connectivity management.
Eseye
IoT Hardware and Connectivity Specialists
LinkedInEseye brings decades of end-to-end expertise to integrate and optimise IoT connectivity delivering near 100% uptime. From idea to implementation and beyond, we deliver lasting value from IoT. Nobody does IoT better.
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