1. USING A RASPBERRY PI AS A WATER DETECTION SYSTEM
Joshua C. Dunn
Network Security & Electronics Program,
Eastern Kentucky University

2. Better known as: FloodPi

3. Outline
Big Picture: Home owners and renters don’t enjoy having their property damaged
Water is one of the leading causes of home damage
Average cost of repair is $2200 (HomeAdvisor)
Key Functions
Alerting user to water
Providing data for establishment of trends
Water damage prevention
Insurance write off

4. Outline (Cont’d)
Basic Detection Circuit Layout

5. Motivation This area in my residence hall floods frequently Why? Who?
To protect mine and University Housing’s Property
Who?
Me and Eastern Kentucky University Housing
Where and When?
Sullivan Hall, whenever it rains or water accumulates on the floor

6. Introduction: Technical Background
Networking
Raspberry Pi uses the network to deliver alerts to the user console
Computer Science
Raspberry Pi needs a special program to detect water
Assembly of Raspberry Pi
Electronic Engineering
Assembly of detection circuit, shown right

7. Basic Detection Circuit
How it works
Voltage flows from 3.3 Volts (Pin 1, yellow square)
Then flows to bread board
Normal, no water branch has a 10,000 Ohm resistor
Water detection branch of the circuit has a 1,000 Ohm resistor
If there’s water, then the electricity will take the path of least resistance and flow through the water, and out to GPIO Pin 22 (Green, 8th from top on left)
If there is no water, then the power goes through Ground pin (Black, 3rd from top on right)

8. Problem Statement Main Problem Secondary Problems
Detect and alert user if water is detected in the alert area
Secondary Problems
Ensuring detection circuit is functional
Ensuring the system has a power & Ethernet connection

9. Problems (Cont’d). Constraints & Limitations
Limited to being near a plug for both Ethernet and power
Limited to areas with internet connection

10. Assumptions That there’s water that poses a risk to property
That the circuit will not spontaneously fail
That the web interface for the software won’t fail

11. Proposed Solution Block Diagram of method
Joshua Dunn Capstone Presentation

12. Proposed Solution, Steps to Solve the Problem
Figure out best method for detecting water
Figure out how to best report findings to user(s)
Mission Critical Functionality
Ability to detect water
Mission Assistive Functionality
Ability to report to user

13. Results What I learned: Phase 1: Research & Part Searching
Phase 2: Building and Testing
Phase 3: Proof of Concept

14. Phase 1: Research & Part Searching
Learning how to set objectives for this kind of projects
Having a budget
Ensuring all parts are compatible with all other componets

15. Phase 2: Building and Testing
How to build a circuit safely
Bug testing a circuit
Figuring out the best resistive values

16. Phase 3: Proof of Concept
How to make all components mesh together
How to design a report and share it with my peers

18. Conclusions
Sensor successfully alarmed in presence of water and non-alarm when water was not present
Means Pi could be deployed in the home
Not recommended to be sole point of detection
Good proof of concept, but potential risks outweigh some of the benefits
Learned how to manage software on a remote computer
GPIO setup was handled by the website for the Pi
Also, rules for alarms were set on the website too.

19. Conclusions (Cont’d) Good proof-of-concept project
However, if you want 100% dependable protection, then an alarm company is the way to go
Good project for learning how to work with Raspberry Pi/Linux
Had to install the water detection software via Command Line

20. Future Improvements Add text messaging/phone call capabilities
Users will check phone more often than a website
Add Battery for remote deployment
Allows home user to not need a source of voltage near the potential leak
Add case to shield components from splashing
Also, add aesthetic value
Use the Raspberry Pi 3 instead of the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B
Pi 3 has built-in Wi-Fi capabilities

21. Questions?

22. Credits
Water Damage repair cost, recovery/repair-water-damage/
Simplified Detection Circuit, Own work
Picture of Sullivan Hall Basement, Own Work
Detection Circuit, Own Work
Raspberry Pi GPIO Pin layout, board-for-raspberry-pi-p-717.html
Lithium Ion Battery battery.jpg
ADT Logo,

23. Credits (Cont’d) My Paychecks Professors Vigs, Kilgore and Richardson
My peers in the Networking & Computer Science Departments
Quise, Drake, Justin, Lucas, Eric
Matt Phelps
CanaKit for the GPIO Breakout Kit
Raspberry Pi Foundation