DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE FOR WATER PUMPING (IRRIGATION) SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

This research work undertakes the development of water pumping system (with emphasis on Irrigation) that is capable of automatically managing water budgets from a reservoir through a microcontroller subsystem. The water pumping for irrigation system can be used in gardens, farms, urban/rural water supply systems, and in fact, general water management systems for both domestic and industrial applications. The key objective of this research is to develop a user-friendly and efficient water management system that has the capability to irrigate farms based  on automated  algorithm,  logic  and  electronic  circuitry.  The  entire  water  pumping system  is comprised  water   of store/reservoir,  water-level  sensor,(micro)controller,  filter, pump, valves, soil-moisture-content  sensor and software system. In this study, most of these were implemented but filters and valves were not  implemented because of the scope of this study. The Object Oriented System Analysis and Design (OOSAD) methodology was used for the analysis and development of the system under consideration. The software application communicates  directly with a  microcontroller  unit and uses manual over-ride approach in some  cases  to  manage  water  budgets.  The  water-level  sensor  checks  the  level  of  water storage in a reservoir and reports to an electronic controller; the soil-moisture-content sensor checks  the  soil  moisture  content  and  also  reports  to  the  controller.  The  water  pumping software for irrigation system was developed using the following languages: C# for Windows application development,   for establishing routines and relationships; Embedded C was used in defining status and processes  in the Aduino  Uno  microcontroller;  PHPMyAdmin  as a database  management  system  and  MYSQL  relational  database  server  version  5.5  as  the backend for storing user inputs from the frontend. The water-pumping software for irrigation system provides the user interface providing irrigation in gardens or farms. The system was able to perform as expected; pumping  water from reservoir which can be used to irrigate farms                                                             or                                                             gardens.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0       INTRODUCTION

Over 70% of planet earth, as well as over 70% of the human body, is water. Water supply is critical to sustainable development and economic competitiveness of any nation.  Population  surge,  industrialisation  and  rising standards of living, have put water demand on the rise; though without corresponding increase in the quantity of the resource[1].

Water pumping is required in situations where site conditions do not favour the use of gravity supply. This may occur in irrigation or water supply projects. In either case, gravity systems tend to involve high capital cost but low operating cost. On the other hand, pumping systems tend to require lower capital cost but high operating cost. The choice between gravity supply, and pump fed supply is therefore, an economic one. When the economic case is not obvious, then the economic viability of each alternative must  be established,  and the economically superior alternative chosen[2].

Water demand is determined by segregating the total demand into categories such as:

1) Irrigation demand;

2) Domestic demand;

3) Industrial demand;

4) Commercial demand;

5) Institutional demand.

For irrigation, the water demand is derived from the total area to be irrigated and the water

required per unit of area irrigated. The water demand required per unit area irrigated depends on the crop, the climatic conditions, and the soil conditions.

For categories of demand except irrigation,  the population to be served and its per  capita water  consumption  is  estimated,  and  from  these  data,  the  aggregated  water  demand  is computed. The water quality for categories of demand other than irrigation will generally be to human health standards[3].

In  practice,  demand  for  irrigation  will  usually  be  isolated  and  designed  for  separately, because the location where it occurs and the water quality demanded is often different[4]. Computer software/simulation models are widely used by water authorities around the world for planning and management of  water supply systems. These water supply systems consist of  ‘nodes’  such  as  reservoirs,  demand  centres,  stream  junctions  and  pipe  junctions,  and

‘carriers’ such as rivers and pipes. They supply irrigation and urban water demands,  meet environmental flows, and provide releases for hydropower generation and other uses.

This water pumping/irrigation software is about the use of computer and supporting technology to provide effective, efficient and economically viable alternative to the current manual/semi-automated systems and leveraging positively on water budget.

It is a system that is vast, adaptable and scalable making it suitable for domestic and commercial water budget planning/management.

1.1      STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Water is inarguably considered one of the most important components in sustaining life, both of plants and animals.   Some organizations/farmers  use irrigation(artificial  application  of water to farm) to improve plant growth and crop yield. The cost and convenience of using

traditional or conventional  irrigation methods  vis-à-vis modern technology driven  method will show a marked difference.

Besides,  there  are  many challenges  from  the  old  manual  system  of  water  pumping  and irrigation ranging from system concerns such as managing different and diverse  areas with their peculiar requirements, to theoretical questions such as revisiting evolving needs of the system. Some fundamental challenges are stated below:

1.        Inability to properly plan for water budgets and schedule water pumping  action(s)

remotely

2.         Due to the inefficiency of the current manual system, the need arises to automate water pumping  for irrigation  system  in order  to efficiently  handle  water budgets  in  homes, farms and towns/cities for irrigation purpose.

3.         The inconvenience  of going to each section of the area/farm will be eliminated with the use of an automated system.

1.2      OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study is to design water pumping software for Irrigation system that  will proffer   solutions   to   some   basic   challenges   confronting   most   contemporary   water pumping/irrigation systems. The objectives include:

1.	To develop and implement an efficient water pumping software system that has	the
	capability of mitigating against water wastage in an irrigation system.
2	To create a friendly Graphic User Interface for the irrigation system.

1.3      SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This research promises to make important contribution in the quest to developing software for  water  pumping  for  irrigation  system.    It  will  help  individuals,  government(s)  and

organizations  to make reasonable  and informed choices on cost effective,  convenient  and efficient alternative in choosing water pumping software for irrigation.

The software will creates an interface for the user thereby increasing patronage/acceptability. The convenience  and cost effectiveness  the developed  software  will offer will positively change  the mindset/attitude  of users thereby  leading  to fast application/acceptance  of the system by individuals and organizations.

For the past few years computer has been used increasingly for water pumping and irrigation systems  management.  This  is  because  computer,  in  general  and  computer  software,  in particular  have been recognized  as key measure  for improvement  of  water  use  in water pumping and irrigation systems[5].

Besides commercial software made by international authors, use of Nigerian made software show  several  advantages:  simple  and  easy  to  understand  and  use  because  of  common language  interface;  more  adaptable  to  Nigerian  conditions  because  the  software  is made based on experience and practice of Nigerians.

1.4      SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This work covers the design and implementation of a water pumping software for irrigation system. It will enable the farmer to automate one of the essential farming operation(which is irrigation) thereby saving money, time and energy.

This application is developed as a desktop application. It is not a web application software. It can not be used for simulations of plant growth or crop yields.

1.5     ORGANISATION OF THESIS

This work is arranged such that Chapter One contains the background information on the study along with problem statement, objectives, research questions, among others. In Chapter Two, literature review of relevant works is presented. Chapter Three contains the materials and method used in the research. Specifically, the system analysis, design goals and system components.  In  Chapter  Four,  the  results  and  discussion  of  the  results  are  presented. Conclusion and recommendation for further work are presented in Chapter Five followed by References and Appendices.

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