Water flow control project

[jackwan1]

I have a small project and don't know where it belongs.

I want to install an inground swimming pool water auto-refill project. I have a pool and a pool filter system. The filer pump circulates the pool water through the filter to keep the pool clean. Since the water in the pool evaporates, the water level will go down to the extent that the pump is no longer able to get enough water into the filter. As a result, the water pressure gauge on the filter drops from about 22gpm to something like 15gpm and if the water is not replenished in time, the water pressure will drop further. there is a valve near the pool if turned on, it will refill the pool with house water. Currently, it is manually operated. I have to watch the pool water level, if it is low(normally in a week in summer), I will have to turn on the valve to refill. The need of refill is different in summer and winter, so I have to remember or observe the water level.

My goal is to automate the refill process. My first step is to replace the manual valve with an irrigation/sprinkler control valve, it can be controlled by a sprinkler (irrigation) controller/timer. There are plenty of options on the market to automate the controller/timer, but right now, I have a dummy timer. My dummy timer will control the pool valve by specific date/time and length of time of operation, it is set until I walk to the timer and change it. If I buy a "smart" controller, I can set the timer via wifi and perhaps control the refill volume seasonally.

The true automation comes when the water pressure at the filter drops from 20+ gpm to 15 gpm, the refill valve will open to refill the pool. I know at that level, it will need about X minutes of water, so I can set the operating level of the valve. I found there are lots of smart water pressure meter on the market which is competible to the pool filter, but I don't know how can I connect the pressure meter with the pool (irrigation/sprinkler) valve.

Either that, I can also put a water level meter in the pool, when the water level drops to a certain point, I can start refilling. I have bought one like that, but I need to hook it up with a garden hose to it, it just don't work. The hose could not last long with constant water pressure and the hose is above groud people can trip over it. I doubt there is one that can operate the valve automatically.

[waaren]

I have a small project and don't know where it belongs.

I guess the first steps are to include the pressure sensor and the poolwater supply valve in domoticz. Once you have done that and you are confident that the sensor is reliable showing the pressure and that the valve does always close when you give the command in domoticz, the next step could be to create a script that take care of supplying enough water to enable the pump again to effectively filter the water.

[jackwan1]

Thank you @waaren

Each hardware I found on the market is proprietary Does anyone know if there are hardward available to work with Domoticz?
I read a lot about irrigation controllers on this forum, so I have some idea about going forward. But has any one worked with water pressure gauges? Has anyone converted a dummy pressure guage to wifi or wireless?

Thanks a million

[zicht]

Hi,

Get proper hardware is the real challenge.
Why not a floating sensor that makes a contact when below a certain level and then time the value needed.

See for example how a toilet or car gas tank works. Connect a microswitch to a zigbee kaku or z-wave contact (like for a sunscreen)
Activating the valve can be done many ways, easy and simple is a smart power socket with a small adapter/converter connected to the magnet.

Other solution is the system that is industial used with digital (pressure) sensors. Those work with their own electronics, and the challenge would be to get it somehow into domoticz .

Allways be aware of safety when connecting electronics with any power source when working with water

Nice project !

[jackwan1]

@zicht

"Why not a floating sensor that makes a contact when below a certain level and then time the value needed."

You are absolutley right. I have thought about it, however, you know the wall of an inground swimming pool is made of thick cement and tiles, in addition, it is surrounded by a cement patio excess 7 feet wide. I am not and cannot drill a hole or break the patio to run a cable to install a float sensor. I have read about the tank sensors, but gave up on this idea.

Thank you very much on responding.

[philchillbill]

It could easily be battery powered and use e.g zwave to send the level as a binary to Domoticz. The Fibaro window sensors have connectors to connect an external switch to them, which could be your float.

If you know how long you need to fill for when the low threshold is reached then a binary level is sufficient.

[Lally]

The Working of the YFS201 water flow sensor is simple to understand. The water flow sensor works on the principle of hall-effect. Hall-effects the production of the potential difference across an electric conductor when a magnetic UPSers

[aleph0]

I need to rise a warning in using that kind of flow sensors on a swimming pool filtration circuit. I never managed to keep one of them operating more than a few months. And the breakdowns come after +/- the same amount of M3 pumped through them. I guess they are just not designed to count such a huge amount of water as required by swimming pool filtration systems.

If you want to detect the moment when the pump loose it's priming, I'd better advise using pressure sensors instead.

Envoyé de mon moto g(6) en utilisant Tapatalk

[jackwan1]

I finally come up with a design idea

On the poolside, use a battery-powered waterproof 433Mhz, Zigbee or Z-Wave transmitter combined with a float sensor to detect the water level. This can be bolted into the skimmer cover. I have tested a wired solution with a float sensor in the pool, but because the water waves in the pool(weather-related, pool pump, or pool in use) made the float impossible to control. The sensor must be enclosed in a container that has the water level of the pool but not affected by the waves in the pool caused by the pool pump or wind conditions. The best place to put this container is under the skimmer cover. Some pools have a water leveler in the design, so this will replace the existing system, normally the leveler is mechanical with little contol.

On the water feed side, a Zigbee, Z-wave or 433Mhz receiver or an ESP8266 based wifi will be controlled by Domoticz. When the water is low, the water will be turned on by a sprinkler valve(for the lawn). I found out that the sprinkler valve can be controlled by a 12vdc power source, which most of the small relay system is based on.

I have deployed a wired system to prove my point before I launch a wireless solution.

My wired system has a float sensor in an enclosed container bolted below the skimmer cover, a thin wire glued on the ground connecting to a waterproof box where the relay for controlling the sprinkler valve is installed. I have a Sonoff in the box to control the power supply to the relay, so the relay will not turn on when the pool is in use, normally during the day before sunset. I will fill the pool after sunset or in the early hours in the morning.

My question: is there a waterproof wireless system that has a corresponding wireless hub I can use for my design? I know Shaomei has something called water detection sensor that might work, based on a youtube video. The problem I have is not to introduce another "wireless hub" in my IOT solutions. I am all in for ESP8266 based systems.