A remotely controlled framework for gravity-driven water release in shallow and not shallow storage ponds
Conference
Verma, V, Bian, L, Rojali, A et al. (2020). A remotely controlled framework for gravity-driven water release in shallow and not shallow storage ponds
. 12-22.
Verma, V, Bian, L, Rojali, A et al. (2020). A remotely controlled framework for gravity-driven water release in shallow and not shallow storage ponds
. 12-22.
Remote operation of gates is desirable for multiple purposes. For instance, in the case of flood control, the storage ponds (e.g., detention ponds, reservoirs, wetlands) are often located in remote areas. For draining storage ponds by gravity, siphons, and/or sloped pipes could be used. For shallow ponds (up to 6 meters of storage height), siphons and sloped pipes could be used while, as for deeper ponds, only sloped pipes could be used. Siphons only require anchoring, whereas sloped pipes would require a trench on the storage berm. This paper presents a low-cost hardware system for remote water release, which could be used for multiple purposes. In the case of flood control, remote operation could be used to release water hours or days before heavy rainfall events to increase the capacity of storage units (e.g., wetlands, reservoirs, detention ponds). The proposed system consists of a modular and integrated hardware/software platform that interfaces automated gates for siphons and sloped pipes, sensors, and communication for remote operation using a 3G/4G cellular network. The proposed system is powered using a battery, which is recharged by a solar panel. Multiple prototypes of the system (single and array) were built and extensively tested in our laboratory. This approach could open the doors for low-cost applications of remotely-operated water release to areas such as flood control, management of water levels in wetlands for ecological purposes, among others.
