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I have gone through this answer before i post question here,

https://www.hackster.io/ben-eagan/raspberry-pi-automated-plant-watering-with-website-8af2dc

https://mtlynch.io/greenpithumb/

https://www.switchdoc.com/smartplantpi/

Those links talks about water moisture sensors, but I think I need water flow detection from pump. Below is my use case

I’m very new to raspberry pi. I have personal requirement for my home purpose. We have heavy water problem in our village. Water comes from borewell only early morning 2:00 AM For an hour. After 3 hours agin water will come for 30 mins. So the problem is every day we have to switch on motor 2 am will switch it of after an hour. After that every 3 hours interval water comes for 30 minutes. We need to keep watch water is coming or not. If water not coming we will switch of motor.

I would like to automate this with raspberry pi. Before I post this I did some R&D in Internet how the things will work. I understood, I need raspberry pi, water sensor ( for monitoring water outflow), something else for switch off and on of motor.

I can program the interval and other coding stuff in python. So I would like to know all the required hardware for this requirement.

bommina
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  • I guess what you need is a Rpi to monitor the water flow meter, and use a relay to switch on/off the AC110/220V line to the the pump. The following posts might help: (1) https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=219744#p1349155, (2) https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=231740&p=1428814&hilit=water+pump+tlfong01#p1419088. I am happy to expand and/or update my old stuff. Please let me know the links or photos of your flow meter and water pump, so I can tailor/gear my suggestion more specifically to your requirements and Rpi knowledge/skill standards. Cheers. – tlfong01 Feb 22 '20 at 02:06
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    This may be a worthwhile project, but this is not how this site works. We can't help you with selecting hardware, but if you need help with interfacing or programming help is available. Frankly this would be more suited to Arduino. – Milliways Feb 22 '20 at 03:50
  • As @Millieays says, for me it doesn’t matter which hardware it is. For me my use case should be solved. I found very good and complete example here with Arduino https://how2electronics.com/water-flow-sensor-for-flow-rate-volume-measurement/ . But later I came to know, Arduino doesn’t support python like Raspberry PI. I believe I can program in C also, but I’m worried that I may not get full support. – bommina Feb 22 '20 at 09:09
  • @tlfong01, I found very good example with Arduino ( https://how2electronics.com/water-flow-sensor-for-flow-rate-volume-measurement/) but may be I prefer to use Raspberry PI. I would like to to achieve same as mentioned in this link with Raspberry PI. So what are all components required (hardware) , which Pi model and so. – bommina Feb 22 '20 at 09:16
  • @venkat.bommina, yes I agree with you that the Arduino tutorial you recommended is good. Actually you can find other also good Arduino tutorials. If you don't want extra things like timers, alarms, etc Rpi has a "slight" advantage of more open hardware. But the Arduino C++ vs Rpi python is a big factor you need to seriously consider. Rpi python examples are plenty, so it is easy to develop python programs. If your project is one/shot, one off, then there little difference. But if your goal is long term, then python should be a better choice. – tlfong01 Feb 22 '20 at 09:54
  • One more thing, the Arduino tutorial uses a small flow meter, might break easily. I also use these type of toy like Hall effect flow meter, but for my little fish water tank. You may like to read my old posts: (1) Small flow meter https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=77158&p=1381407&hilit=flow+meter+tlfong01#p1381407

    (2) Big flow meter https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=77158&p=1408152&hilit=flow+sensor+tlfong01#p1408152. Cheers.

     – tlfong01 Feb 22 '20 at 09:55
  • And if you are a newbie to Rpi 5V relays, you might skim through my long list of relay related posts, which shows how I learned about relays, and the stupid mistakes I made, when I was a relay newbie. (3) https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=77158#p1323061. PS - You need to be very careful if you use a relay to switch 110/220 VAC power. I always use DC12V for water pump and flow meter etc, which is safer. – tlfong01 Feb 22 '20 at 10:03
  • BTW, your question title has a typo mistake ("retirement" should read "requirement"), also a little bit verbose. If you agree I can edit it for you, to something like this: "How to use Rpi to read a water flow meter and switch on/off a water pump?" Your comments and counter suggestions welcome. – tlfong01 Feb 22 '20 at 10:11
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    @tlfong01, I edited title. I will be more specific. I don’t want to measure how much water is pumped, I want it for long run, not just like a toy. I just want to know water is coming or not pump, and if water is not coming I will switch off motor ( big motor connected to 3 phase line). So kindly suggest me RPI model, water sensor (if any) and module for power on/off. – bommina Feb 22 '20 at 14:31
  • Ha, you new title is very good, indicting that you actually do NOT need to measure flow rate, but just water or no water. Let me brain storm some mechanical designs: (1) Use a wind mill or rather water mill thing. Let water falls on the fans/leaves of the water mill, or just a leaf paddle like thing, so no water falls on it, the lever falls and push a button or something like that. (2) A water level sensor, like those moist sensor, no water filling up a water cup, will trigger low level signal etc. I am not good in mechanical design. I guess you can think of more clever things. – tlfong01 Feb 22 '20 at 14:48
  • This is the water level sensor, but seems not that reliable: https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/98491/water-level-detection-sensor-3-3-volt-vs-5-volt. Anyway, you might like to google to get some inspirations. Ah, bed time! I call it a day. See you tomorrow, or day after tomorrow. Good night. – tlfong01 Feb 22 '20 at 14:51
  • Or you can search for "float ball/switch, tilt sensor/switch": (1) https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=77158&p=1388246&hilit=float+switch+tlfong01#p1388246 (2) https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=77158&p=1388235&hilit=float+switch+tlfong01#p1388235 (3) https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z1r.7974869.0.0.269c3ad4rtAvmx&id=559024197118 https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/83960/accurate-water-level Or perhaps water fills a water tank which flows to the big water tank. – tlfong01 Feb 22 '20 at 14:58

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