Implementation of an IoT Based Radar Sensor Network for Wastewater Management

Critical wastewater events such as sewer main blockages or overflows are often not detected until after the fact. These events can be costly, from both an environmental impact and monetary standpoint. A standalone, portable radar device allowing non-invasive benchmarking of sewer pumping station (SPS) pumps is presented. Further, by configuring and deploying a complete Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), Shoalhaven Water (SW) now has the opportunity to create “Internet of Things” (IoT)-capable devices that offer freedom from the reliance on mobile network providers, whilst avoiding congestion on the existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) telemetry backbone. This network infrastructure allows for devices capable of real-time monitoring to alert of any system failures, providing an effective tool to proactively capture the current state of the sewer network between the much larger SPSs. This paper presents novel solutions to improve the current wastewater network management procedures employed by SW. This paper also offers a complete review of wastewater monitoring networks and is one of the first to offer robust testing of Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) network capabilities in Australia. The paper also provides a comprehensive summary of the LoRa protocol and all its functions. It was found that a LPWAN, utilising the LoRaWAN protocol and deployed appropriately within a geographic area, can attain maximum transmission distances of 20 km within an urban environment and up to 35 km line of sight.