Go Down

Topic: Controlled water leaks (Read 1 time) previous topic - next topic


I am looking to build an Arduino project that contains a bladder of water, and then controls the valve that lets water out of that bladder until it has reached a certain capacity (and does so at a low cost to power). Does anyone know if this is feasible?


Certainly it's possible. You need an electrically controlled valve, and a way of measuring how much water is in the bladder. Is there a reason you're using a bladder? It would be much easier to measure the water if you used a regularly shaped container, then the height of the water tells you the volume.

Here is an elegant way of measuring water level: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10221


Getting a valve to work with bugger-all pressure is a problem. There's a thread around at the moment that goes into something similar


Another way to measure the water quantity is by using pressure.
Rob Gray aka the GRAYnomad www.robgray.com


Feb 01, 2011, 05:43 pm Last Edit: Feb 01, 2011, 06:07 pm by gardner Reason: 1
There are folks who have used ink-jet printer cartridges to pump liquids other than ink.  Some links here: http://www.tigoe.net/pcomp/code/category/arduinowiring/422

You could have your bladder of water connected to the ink cartridge sprayer, then electronically control it to meter out the liquid.


Thanks for the posts, I was originally going to use a water flow meter (with a rotary sensor in it) but I think the tape will be much better at measuring water in the bladder. Quick question though, how quickly will the tape respond to changes in the water level?

Or alternatively should I use this:

Could this be used as both a valve and a water flow sensor, and is it sensitive enough to detect changes in the water flow accurate to a ml, also would inertia effect it?

As for a valve, I have been reading around and I wouldn't mind trying a pinch valve as a cheap and not power hungry alternative, but how effective are these kind of valves at not letting drips through (because this will really be on a drip by drip basis)? If the pinch valve is the way to go, can anyone recommend a clamper?

Go Up

Please enter a valid email to subscribe

Confirm your email address

We need to confirm your email address.

Thank you for subscribing!

via Egeo 16
Torino, 10131