SENSORS/ACTUATORS

ESP8266 - Water Sensor

This tutorials instructs you how to use the water sensor with ESP8266. We will learn:

How to connect the water sensor to ESP8266
How to program ESP8266 to read the state from the water sensor.
How to detect water leakage, rainfall, tank overflow, and measure the water level.
How to calibrate the water sensor.

Hardware Preparation

1	×	ESP8266 NodeMCU
1	×	Micro USB Cable
1	×	Water level sensor
1	×	Jumper Wires
1	×	(Optional) 5V Power Adapter for ESP8266
1	×	(Optional) ESP8266 Screw Terminal Adapter

Or you can buy the following sensor kit:

DIYables Sensor Kit 30 types, 69 units

Disclosure: Some of the links provided in this section are Amazon affiliate links. We may receive a commission for any purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. We appreciate your support.

Overview of Water Level Sensor

Water Level Sensor Pinout

The water level sensor has 3 pins:

The S (Signal) pin is an analog output that should be connected to one of the analog inputs on your ESP8266.
The + (VCC) pin supplies power for the sensor and it is suggested to use a voltage between 3.3V – 5V.
The - (GND) pin is a ground connection.

How Water Level Sensor Works

In short, the output voltage on the signal pin increases as the sensor is exposed to more water.

Let's take a closer look.

This section includes advanced information that may be overwhelming. If you are unsure about the content, feel free to skip it and move on to the next sections.

The sensor has a set of ten exposed copper traces, with five being power traces and the other five being sense traces. The traces are arranged in parallel, with one sense trace between every two power traces. Unless submerged in water, these traces are not connected.

The traces act as a variable resistor (just like a potentiometer) whose resistance varies according to the water level:

The resistance of the traces is inversely proportional to the height of the water.
The greater the amount of water the sensor is immersed in, the better the conductivity is, resulting in a lower resistance.
The lesser the amount of water the sensor is immersed in, the worse the conductivity is, resulting in a higher resistance.
The output voltage of the sensor is determined by the resistance.

Assessing the voltage can be used to ascertain the water level.

Wiring Diagram

In theory, the VCC and GND pins of the sensor can be connected to the 5v and GND pins of ESP8266, respectively, in order to provide power to the sensor.

However, it is not advised to use this method in practice. If the environment is humid, supplying power to the sensor constantly will cause it to corrode electrochemically at a faster rate, thus reducing its lifespan. To prevent this, we suggest powering the sensor only when you need to read its value. This can be done by connecting the sensor's VCC pin to a digital pin of an ESP8266 and setting the Arduino's pin to HIGH before reading and LOW after.

The wiring diagram between ESP8266 NodeMCU and Water Sensor

This image is created using Fritzing. Click to enlarge image

See more in ESP8266's pinout and how to supply power to the ESP8266 and other components.

ESP8266 Code - Reading Value from Water Sensor

/* * This ESP8266 NodeMCU code was developed by newbiely.com * * This ESP8266 NodeMCU code is made available for public use without any restriction * * For comprehensive instructions and wiring diagrams, please visit: * https://newbiely.com/tutorials/esp8266/esp8266-water-sensor */ #define POWER_PIN D7 #define SIGNAL_PIN A0 int value = 0; // variable to store the sensor value void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); pinMode(POWER_PIN, OUTPUT); // Configure D7 pin as an OUTPUT digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, LOW); // turn the sensor OFF } void loop() { digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, HIGH); // turn the sensor ON delay(10); // wait 10 milliseconds value = analogRead(SIGNAL_PIN); // read the analog value from sensor digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, LOW); // turn the sensor OFF Serial.print("Sensor value: "); Serial.println(value); delay(1000); }

Detailed Instructions

To get started with ESP8266 on Arduino IDE, follow these steps:

Check out the how to setup environment for ESP8266 on Arduino IDE tutorial if this is your first time using ESP8266.
Wire the components as shown in the diagram.
Connect the ESP8266 board to your computer using a USB cable.
Open Arduino IDE on your computer.
Choose the correct ESP8266 board, such as (e.g. NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-12E Module)), and its respective COM port.
Copy the code and open it with the Arduino IDE.
Click the Upload button on the Arduino IDE to compile and upload the code to the ESP8266.
Gently lower the sensor into a glass of water.
View the outcome on the Serial Monitor; the value should be 0 when the sensor is not in contact with anything.

COM6

Send

Sensor value: 0 Sensor value: 0 Sensor value: 0 Sensor value: 25 Sensor value: 97 Sensor value: 284 Sensor value: 428 Sensor value: 435 Sensor value: 441 Sensor value: 455 Sensor value: 467 Sensor value: 521 Sensor value: 528 Sensor value: 553

Autoscroll Show timestamp

Clear output

9600 baud

Newline

※ NOTE THAT:

The sensor should not be completely submerged; only the exposed traces on the PCB should come into contact with water. Please take care when installing it.

How To Detect Water Leakage

To identify water leakage, rainfall, and tank overflow, we just need to compare the reading value with a threshold value that is determined during the calibration section of this tutorial.

Let us consider a particular instance. If water is detected, ESP8266 will activate an LED.

Wiring Diagram

This image is created using Fritzing. Click to enlarge image

ESP8266 Code - Detecting Water Leakage

/* * This ESP8266 NodeMCU code was developed by newbiely.com * * This ESP8266 NodeMCU code is made available for public use without any restriction * * For comprehensive instructions and wiring diagrams, please visit: * https://newbiely.com/tutorials/esp8266/esp8266-water-sensor */ #define LED_PIN D2 #define POWER_PIN D7 #define SIGNAL_PIN A0 #define THRESHOLD 300 int value = 0; // variable to store the sensor value void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); pinMode(LED_PIN, OUTPUT); // Configure D2 pin as an OUTPUT pinMode(POWER_PIN, OUTPUT); // Configure D7 pin as an OUTPUT digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, LOW); // turn the sensor OFF digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW); // turn LED OFF } void loop() { digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, HIGH); // turn the sensor ON delay(10); // wait 10 milliseconds value = analogRead(SIGNAL_PIN); // read the analog value from sensor digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, LOW); // turn the sensor OFF if (value > THRESHOLD) { Serial.print("The water is detected"); digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH); // turn LED ON } else { digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW); // turn LED OFF } }

How To Measure The Water Level

If you wish to measure the current level of water by splitting the maximum height into various levels, the following code can be used. Note that the maximum height of the water is equivalent to the height of the sensor. This code divides the maximum height into four levels.

/* * This ESP8266 NodeMCU code was developed by newbiely.com * * This ESP8266 NodeMCU code is made available for public use without any restriction * * For comprehensive instructions and wiring diagrams, please visit: * https://newbiely.com/tutorials/esp8266/esp8266-water-sensor */ #define POWER_PIN 7 #define SIGNAL_PIN A5 #define SENSOR_MIN 0 #define SENSOR_MAX 521 int value = 0; // variable to store the sensor value int level = 0; // variable to store the water level void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); pinMode(POWER_PIN, OUTPUT); // Configure D7 pin as an OUTPUT digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, LOW); // turn the sensor OFF } void loop() { digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, HIGH); // turn the sensor ON delay(10); // wait 10 milliseconds value = analogRead(SIGNAL_PIN); // read the analog value from sensor digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, LOW); // turn the sensor OFF level = map(value, SENSOR_MIN, SENSOR_MAX, 0, 4); // 4 levels Serial.print("Water level: "); Serial.println(level); delay(1000); }

※ NOTE THAT:

SENSOR_MIN and SENSOR_MAX are determined through the calibration process.
The mapping method mentioned above is not precise. Nevertheless, it is suitable for many applications. If you wish to make the results more accurate, you can measure the threshold values for each level. For further information, please refer to the calibration section at the end of this tutorial.

Water Level Sensor Calibration

The output value of the sensor is determined by two factors: the water level and the conductivity of the water. Pure water is not conductive, however, when minerals and impurities are present, it becomes conductive. The more conductive the water is, the higher the sensitivity of the sensor. Additionally, the output value is also affected by the voltage supplied to the VCC pin of the sensor.

For accurate readings from the water sensor, we suggest calibrating it for the specific type of water you intend to monitor.

Prior to setting the threshold for initiating an action, it is necessary to measure the actual value obtained from the sensor through a test.

Instructions for the test:

Utilize the sketch provided above to read the sensor value.
Immerse the sensor in the water, making sure it is at the desired threshold level.
Record the value outputted by the sensor in the Serial Monitor.
Use this value as the threshold to trigger a certain action.

It may require some experimentation to complete this test.

The test can also be used to discover:

SENSOR_MIN value, when the sensor is not submerged in the liquid
SENSOR_MAX value, when the sensor is totally submerged in the liquid
A limit value for spotting water leakage
The boundary values for each stage of your degree scale.

Video Tutorial

Challenge Yourself

Upon detecting water leakage,
Send an email,
Send a SMS message,
And make a sound alarm.

Function References

Learn More

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