where millions of people live . The drainage system is known as the foundation for land dryness , draining away unused and excess water , rainwater and wastewater .
Malaysia has a tropical climate with abundant rainfall , especially during monsoon seasons . Therefore , a proper drainage system is crucial in smart cities in Malaysia to ensure a safe and sanitary environment .
Many affected areas suffer from stagnant water which are breeding grounds for Aedes , and flash floods , due to irregular drainage monitoring and clearing , triggering odours and the spread of diseases such as dengue . The drainage system must be monitored continuously to ensure its functionality , sustainability and efficiency to improve the function of cities and reduce environmental problems and losses .
Along with other technological advancements , Malaysia can build smart drainage systems . Recently there are a few works that show the successful production and prototyping of smart drainage systems [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ], using NodeMCU as the driver circuit which runs on the ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC Module , hardware based on the ESP-12 module , GPS as a wireless navigating device to provide location information of the drainage system using the data from the satellite , ultrasonic sensors to measure the water level of the drainage system using ultrasonic waves , and gas sensors to detect harmful gases emitted from the drainage system . This method overcomes the difficulties of surveillance in dark areas .
Figure 2 : Smart Drainage System
There are a few types of gas sensors , e . g ., the MQ135 gas sensor , used to detect the presence of ammonia ( NH 3
), nitrogen oxide ( NO ), carbon dioxide ( CO 2
), alcohol , smoke , benzene , etc . inside the drainage ; and the MQ-4 and MQ-7 sensors which can be used to detect the presence of methane and monoxide gases , toxic chemicals , moisture and temperature in the drainage .
Smart drainage ensures that the authority is notified in time and can obtain real-time data on the conditions of the drainage nationwide . The department in charge need not visit each drainage system , leading to time-saving , risk reduction and drainage data consistency . Table 1 shows a brief technical comparison of a few smart drainage prototypes .
[ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ]
Microcontroller |
Arduino UNO |
WEMOS D1 |
NodeMCU |
NodeMCU , |
|
|
|
|
Arduino Mega |
Wi-Fi Module ESP8266 ESP8266 ESP8266 N / A N / A GSM SIM800L ✓ N / A GSMsin808 ✓ GPS N / A N / A ✓ ✓ N / A ADC N / A ✓ N / A N / A N / A
Ultrasonic Sensor
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ N / A
Table 1 : Technical comparison of smart drainage prototypes
Raspberry Pi
Gas Sensor MQ-2 MQ-4 , MQ-7 ✓ MQ135 MQ-4 , MQ-7
Temperature Sensor
LM35 N / A N / A N / A N / A
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