Remote sensing of water holding tank levels (measuring contraption)

[G. Morgan]

That' not how they work, there are 4 pick-up's on each sensor on each corner. If he mounts them right there is no problems of humidity to worry about. They are fully submersible (of course).

[G. Morgan]

Yes, you can do it like that. Waterbugs are submersible, that's why they say can "detect ABSENCE of water". I've been in the business a while, and they are reliable (first hand experience). The other Winland environmental sensors are great too.

[trader4]

Yes, he can do it like that. But as I recall, there are two tanks in question and they are 100 to 200 ft from the house. He wants to know the level of water in each of the tanks. Let's assume they are just connected directlyh together, in which case the water levels are the same. To get that level with a reasonable degree of accuracy he's need about 6 of these sensors. Then, he'd still need to somehow get the results back to the house. Which means either running these waterbugs individually back to the house, or else using wireless networking with an I/O device to read the status of the waterbugs and then send it to the home network. Even if he does individual runs, then what? He still needs something to display the status because from the spec sheets neither the WB200, nor the WB350 has a display. If he wants to go that route, he could use 8 sensors and the WB800, which appears to have a suitable display. But doing 6 or 8 runs of wire 100 - 200 ft outside sounds like a PIA. Plus, don't know how he feels about the price, but online a WB800 plus another 4 sensors is ~ $260

And if he goes the wireless route, instead of a bunch of sensors he could use one transducer that measures water pressure in the bottom of the tank and know exactly how much water he has. He just has to interface that to an ethernet I/O device that is compatible.

[dpb]

...[discussion on connections/display/etc elided for brevity]...

As well, I'd question how well the waterbug will work as a level sensor rather than a dampness detector as it is intended. In a tank the wall will still be wet after the level has dropped past it for a (probably considerable) length of time and I'd wonder what the sensitivity will be to detect that film surface...it might work satisfactorily but reading the doc's online doesn't give me a warm fuzzy that they're at all designed for the purpose. Perhaps the sensitivity is adjustable or they require more water than the damp surface but I'd surely go w/ a trial run or talk w/ manufacturer on the proposed application before I'd spend much money on the idea.

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[gregz]

I was thinking immersed thermisters. Self heat generators just like a gas tank. You might be able to use a small bank, how many do you need, there are temperature sensors that have an adjustable range, with on on off output. Same as magnetics without need for magnet.

Greg

[bob haller]

a different approach add a tank for non essential uses like watering lawn etc.

when its dry you dont irrigate.

this would add capacity and be realtively simple to implement.

no sensors needed other than protection for the pump irrigation.....

i did something similiar when just out of high school my mom depended on a cistern which would spill water when full.

i added a tank to the spillage line, and mom used the waste water to irrigate her garden. the cistern was on top of the hill so no pump was needed

of course drip type irrigation would cut water use dramatically

[trader4]

Another simple possibility. If you don't mind running a wire from the tank to the house, you could probably use an off-the-shelf water pressure gauge for auto or marine. You get a transducer and a gauge that work off 12V. You'd need one that reads from 0 to about 25 psi and I think you could find one close to that. Then you'd have a gauge that shows the water level.