Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Embedded and Mobile Systems of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology
Water management is a fundamental factor that helps to make sure that water is available and well
utilized. Meter reading process is required by Arusha Urban Water Supply and Sanitation
Authority (AUWSA) so as to be able to bill the clients according to their water usage. Currently,
the process of meter reading is manual which require at the end of each month, meter reading
officials from AUWSA have to read all the meters in Arusha, the process which cost AUWSA
time and financial resources. The objective of this project was therefore, to develop an IoT based
customer water meter system where meter readings can be automated and the readings sent to the
cloud. The AUWSA then receives the readings on a weekly basis and can continue with reading
verification and billing. The Method used on the development of this system is a Dynamic System
Development Method (DSDM) which is one of the methods in Agile methodology. The system is
recommended to solve the existing challenges of reading of water meters and improve customer
satisfaction in water service and management. Preliminary results of the prototype testing indicate
that the system would send readings data to the server as well as the nodes receiving the
instructions from the server. The developed prototype would also send weekly messages to
customers about their weekly usage. This communication allows any billing issues to be resolved
timely. Also, the system would highlight the readings which are doubtful for example zero
readings for easily notification and verification.