Waterman Standpipe Controller

The Waterman standpipe controller has been designed to prevent water theft by individuals and/or organisations as a result of not entering the correct water consumption correctly or not at all.

The controller is intended for use on the Water Corporation distribution network.

The design is based on a standard swipe card design similar to that used in accessing buildings.

Each control system consists of four components

  • A stainless steel enclosure with an indicator light and two push buttons
  • A solar panel with regulator and battery
  • A water meter with pulse output
  • An electric solenoid

The water meter and solenoid are installed in the standpipe supply line immediately after the existing water meter while the controller and solar panel are normally installed on the standpipe support structure.
Swipe cards are to be issued by the council to individuals and organisations who wish to use the standpipes within the council boundaries. Swipe cards will carry the council's logo and are available in lots of 100 from Waterman Irrigation.

Operation is as follows:

  • The user presses the start button on the controller to power up the processor.
  • After a few seconds the light will come on showing that the controller is ready to accept the swipe card
  • The card is swiped across the card reader mounted underneath the control panel
  • The indicator light flashes three times indicating acceptance of the swipe card
  • The user presses the start button again and the solenoid opens
  • At this time the card user has been logged as well as the start time of the operation
  • During filling the water meter sends pulses to the controller.
  • On completion of the fill the user presses the stop button which stops the flow and power down the processor after 2 minutes.
  • The total water consumption has now been logged as has the finish time.

Gathering of data
The usage data will be stored in the controller for extraction by council personnel. This can either be done by a simple laptop computer connection or by internet access(optional).
Approximately 3 months worth of data can be stored in the controller. The data stored is in the form of a CSV file that can be read by standard spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel.

The linking of card numbers to users is done using the processor access software.

Specifications:
Controller housing:      Stainless Steel
IP Rating:                    IP 65
Operational voltage     12 VDC
Battery:                     12 AH sealed lead-acid
Processor                   Sixnet Micro IPM
Water meter               Standard display with pulse output (10 litre per pulse)
Solenoid valve             50 mm with latching coil
Indicator light             LED