DEVELOPMENT OF A WATER QUALITY MONITORING SYSTEM USING IOT FOR AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES (NEAR NIPA PALM)

• Main Author: Hu, Guo Huan
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2023
• Subjects: TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/43091/1/Hu%20Guo%20Huan%2024%20pgs.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/43091/5/Hu%20Guo%20Huan%20ft.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/43091/

Water plays a vital role in the growth and development of agricultural crops, including the Nipa palm. This research will focus on the Nipa palm (Nypa fruticans) that survives in the mangrove forest. Since nipa palm is constantly inundated, monitoring water properties is needed to detect the levels of heavy metals, major metals, trace elements and nutrients in the water. However, most of the current IoT monitoring systems for agriculture does not equip with reliable water quality sensors for water quality monitoring. Besides, sufficient nutrient availability and salinity is a factor that enables the nipa palm to maintain continuous growth and a healthy population. Therefore, this project will develop a reliable water quality monitoring system for obtaining data on water parameters near nipa palm. This water quality monitoring system will equip with five sensors, including pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, temperature, and DHT-11 sensor. All the sensor data collected will be displayed on OLED and uploaded to the IoT platform, ThingSpeak, for further analysis. Nipa palm fruit will be gathered from each site, and the relationship between the physicochemical parameters of the water and the size of the nipa palm fruit will be assessed. The analysis reveals that electrical conductivity and salinity are key factors influencing the size of the nipa palm fruit. If the electrical conductivity and salinity values exceed 20mS/cm, the nipa palm fruit produced will likely be smaller. Other water parameters such as pH, water temperature, and turbidity also play significant roles in achieving a good population and larger-sized nipa palm fruit. By developing a robust monitoring system, farmers and agricultural practitioners can make informed decisions on water use and management strategies for Nipa palm plantations.