Narrowband-Internet of Things based water metering system: a case-study for Nairobi County
Date
2023
Authors
Kamau, S. I.
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
The adoption of smart water metering systems is gaining interest in commercial and domestic sectors. This technology can monitor water usage and solve challenges like leakages and water theft. Water companies in Kenya have started looking for solutions to monitor water usage, especially in urban centers. The broad implementation of these meters is facing limitations such as poor infrastructure for network connectivity and short battery life, leading to downtimes in data transmission. This study designs and implements a smart water metering system that utilizes Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) communication technology. NB-IoT communication technology is a classification of Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) connectivity designed for IoT devices. The study included integrative reviews to determine the current water meters and how current data is collected and processed. The implemented system ensured transparency in collecting water metering, continuity of water supply to homesteads, and reduced labor for the water vending companies in Kenya. The system has a combination of hardware and software that demonstrates how NB-IoT technology is suitable to facilitate solving the existing issues faced by Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC). The collected metering data was sent to a central server in real-time. It was then processed and analyzed to determine usage patterns. In addition, a web interface was developed to assist in the visualization of information by clients. The system demonstrated exceptional reliability over the deployment period by providing water consumption data. The communication reliability was exponential as the NB-IoT connection was maintained even inside buildings in Strathmore University indicating penetrations through the walls hence easy to deploy in other areas beyond Nairobi.
Keywords – Narrowband-Internet of things (NB-IoT), Internet of Things (IoT), Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN)
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Full- text thesis
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Citation
Kamau, S. I. (2023). Narrowband-Internet of Things based water metering system: A case-study for Nairobi County [Strathmore University]. http://hdl.handle.net/11071/13519