I am looking to install a rain water tank in the loft for toilets and washing machine.
Will have a large tank in the garden with a pump.
Was considering 3 of the Aeotec ZWA019-C Water sensor For Pump cut in, pump cut out and Tank High level (backup pump cut out and alarm) and another for the bulk tank low level to inhibit the pump.
That's £160 in just the devices so have been researching.
I can use a pump with a built in bob type float for the bulk tank pump inhibit.
I can use a bob type float for the pump cut in and cut out (assuming I can set the hysteresis low enough)
I can then use a plunger type float switch for the tank high level.
Both those floats will be connected to a Fibaro Smart implant as digital inputs.
I can set up some rules for pump run duration to work out if the bulk tank level is low and not running the pump.
Does this sound reasonable, or is there an easier way (budget friendly)
A factory built rain water control system will be more than the 4 Aeotec sensors, and no fun.
Without any experience in this myself.... Would you not want / need some kind of backup from the mains water to support when the tanks run dry? So should that not be worked into the solution you are describing...? Not sure how best to do that, just a thought....
Yes there's two ball float inlets to the tank, the mains inlet float is set near the bottom of the tank, just to keep some in when the bulk tank is empty.
No Smart required for that part.
Not sure the configuration that needs high level control. If collecting rain is there a collecting pan that runs into your tank?
I would plumb a passive overflow tube that bled off any water above its location. Kind of like the overflow in a bathroom sink.
Would you also want a mid level sensor that would signal there is enough water to finish a washing machine cycle?
If you are more technical you might want to look into a Hubduino from @ogiewon , then you can use non smart sensors.
Thanks for the reply.
The High level is in case either the ball valves pass and overfill the tank.
There's a requirement for a visible overflow, but it would be nice to get a notification and be able to shut the main water valve or inhibit the rain pump remotely.
I have a Raspberry PI, that could do the job fairly easily I guess, but was hoping to make it simple.
Got the PI for the kids really, but I'm the only one that showed any interest
Maybe I am overthinking it trying to connect to the hubitat at all.
Couple of relays in a box with some float switches would be simple!
Sounds like a cool project. I think the involvement of HE could help in tracking water transfer or pump time (and from that an inference of water volume). How much Muni or well water this ends up saving you over a few years is ALWAYS something folks like to know on this kind of project.
The analogue float switches are the standard...but as inexpensive as some HA water sensors are ....it would be worthwhile finding a way to put a couple in the right places as secondary HIGHER THAN HIGH indicators.
Lastly, might you have to be concerned about occasional treatment of the upper tank to thwart biologic growth which could build up on floats etc. ?
If I were to use a controller for such a project I would use an Arduino instead of the Pi. My reason is I believe the Arduino not having an OS, and having a WDT (watch dog timer) would be much more reliable.
Bit of an Update on this project.
Tank is installed and plumbed up on the mains side, not dug the hole for the rain collection tank yet.
Went with a hydrostatic sensor dropped in the tank for level monitoring.
0-1m 4-20mA version so I added a 1kOhm resistor in the ground cable to give a 4-10V signal for the 0.5m tank I am using.
The Signal is connected to a Fibaro smart implant 0-10V analogue input.
I am using one of the Fibaro outputs to control my 24V Loft lighting, and the other to control my Velux roof blind via a KLF100 interface.
Looking to add some low tech control for the pump using dual float switch unit Stainless Steel Double Ball Float Switch Tank Liquid Water Level Flow Sensor PT | eBay.
Done some tinkering with Tile Master (Thanks Bryan Turcotte) to get a combined status panel and a crude 9 level indicator.
thanks also the christi999 for the modified Smart Implant driver. I couldn't get the analogue to work with the HE driver.
There is a Z-Wave Fibaro smart Implant doing the Analogue conversion and Digital output control.
The Fibaro can only control 150mA, so I added a relay for the lights:
I now have another sensor in a 1000 litre IBC chain, so will uses a 500 Ohm resistor, as they have about 1m useable height, giving 2-10V input to another Fibaro I need to mount in an outdoor box.
I have tried a couple of submersible pumps for the 4.5m lift I need, and the first (5m rated) didn't reach the tank.
The 8m rated pump I have now, does the job, but at about 1 litre per minute!!
I have set a timer for 30 minutes to run the pump when the tank drops to 70 litres, with a cut out if it gets to 105 litres before the timer completed.
The rain inlet ball float is set for about 120 litres, in case of hubitat failure, while the pump is on.
Just wanted to thank you for the pointer to the water level sensor - that and a 500R (exactly as your use case) along with a little maths in the driver by @christi999 is giving me a reading in litres for my 3000l rainwater collection tank.
I'm using the two outputs on the Smart Implant to switch relays to control a couple of pumps for garden irrigation. All very useful
I'm struggling a little at the moment to understand how to use TileMaster to display a nice bar-graph like you have , but I'm sure I'll get there after a bit!
