Design, Implementation, and Field Deployment of a Real-Time Sewage Tank Level Detection and Monitoring System for Residential Facilities in A University Campus

Sanitation hazards and environmental contamination usually result from ineffective management of wastewater systems in densely populated areas. This study presents the design, implementation, and field deployment of a real-time sewage tank level detection and monitoring system that was tailored to manage wastewater infrastructures at the Federal University of Technology, Ikot Abasi (FUTIA). The design implements a standalone, hardwired embedded architecture, unlike conventional systems that rely heavily on Internet of Things (IoT) or cloud-based platforms. The standalone design approach was informed by the erratic Wi-Fi and cellular networks within and around the university campus. The system was designed to monitor a  underground septic tank using a non-contact HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor interfaced with an embedded processing unit. The designed system converts the acoustic round-trip time-of-flight (ToF) data into volumetric value. Real-time updates of the sewage tank volume are communicated to an indoor unit with LEDs that are calibrated to trigger at 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 90% thresholds. At the critical 90% fill limit, the active buzzer is triggered to generate intermittent audible alarm (200 milliseconds ON / 200 milliseconds OFF) that notify facility administrators of impending structural overflow. The system design was cross-validated using Proteus Design Suite 8.13 Professional and comprehensive MATLAB simulations. The conducted field evaluation presented an impressive system execution time of one second with an average measurement deviation (E_avg) of 1.24%. This study provides a practical, low-maintenance, cost-effective and robust wastewater management solution for densely populated university campuses.