Wallog Project update - January 2025
What has been done to date?
The water supply and demand at Wallog varies throughout the year. During the winter months and into spring, water is needed for 750 ewes along with supplying the farm dwellings (as seen in figure 1). The demand increases significantly during the summer months when water supply is at its lowest, and needing to service 750 ewes, 800 lambs, 100 head of cattle and also keep a continuous supply for the farm dwellings (see figure 2).
Figure 1 - Water demand from October to April
Figure 2 - Water demand from May to September.
In order to meet the demand, and ensure a continuous supply, we identified what information needed to be captured by the sensors in order to put a system in place (see figure 3).
Figure 3 - Identifying the data that needed to be captured to meet the current water demand.
By using a network of LoRaWAN sensors and a purpose-built dashboard, Wallog has managed to save water by detecting problems earlier and save on energy use by pumping water more efficiently. The system has also contributed to a better understanding of when and where water is available around the farm throughout the year.
The dashboard allows the farmer, Dai, to monitor water levels at the reservoirs and well, monitor flow rate and activate the pump when needed from his mobile phone.
Figure 4 - Screenshot showing the purpose-built dashboard connected to the sensors.
Although the system has proven to be successful in managing water supply, there have been a few issues along the way. Slugs have been interfering with some sensor activity, which has resulted in occasional errors in the data captured. Weather and wildlife have also had similar impacts on sensor activity, resulting in intermittent signal and network issues.
Next steps -
- Install flow sensors on more troughs to build the water use and leak detection capability of the system.
- Install temperature sensor(s) for frost detection.
- Continue to develop the dashboard.