When it comes to buzzwords that everyone’s head but few people understand, “Internet of Things” has to be close to the top of the heap in the year 2016. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to it – quite the opposite. The Internet of Things (IoT) and the principles it represents have the potential to completely reshape our world and how we interact with it on a daily, tangible basis. And liquid level sensors are going to be a big part of how the IoT operates.
What is the Internet of Things?
Whereas the Internet itself is more or less incorporeal (physical servers and other hardware notwithstanding), the Internet of Things refers to interconnected devices, tools, machines, and even animals or people that are all enabled via electronics to collect, share, and exchange data and information.
For instance, wearable devices like Fitbits that record vital metrics like heart-rate and sleep quality and make that data available to users and their doctors are an example of IoT technology. Animals with worn or implanted devices that track their locations while grazing is a part of the Internet of Things, as are automobiles with self-diagnostic sensors and medical devices fixed with RFID tags so that hospitals can better track its physical assets. The list goes on, and it’s only getting longer.
Liquid Level Sensors in the Internet of Things
Water being the most crucial substance on Earth to the sustenance of human life, it’s no surprise that water controls are already a significant part of the Internet of Things. That’s where liquid level sensors come into play (not that fluid controls stop with water). Liquid level sensors are utilized in a number of IoT applications, such as the following:
- Potable Water Monitoring: As population levels rise and the need for drinking water in the world’s towns and cities increases, the need for accurate tracking of potable water levels becomes more and more pressing. With liquid level sensors, water levels in tanks, reservoirs, and other vessels can be accurately monitored.
- Surface Water Level Measurement: Drought and flooding are two of the most devastating ecological disasters that can befall any population, and preparedness in the face of either is crucial to survival. Measuring surface water levels is important not only for the mitigation of risks associated with drought and flooding but for drinking water monitoring, agriculture and irrigation planning and more.
- Industrial Automation: As industry relies more and more on automation to cut costs and improve efficiency, those in which liquids play a critical role, from hydraulics to brewing, will increasingly rely on level sensors connected wirelessly to a computer control station to function.
- Other IoT Applications: Wastewater management, chemical leak detection, pollution monitoring, oil and gas monitoring, and more all other IoT applications in which liquid level sensors will play an important part.