A group of Engineering Lecturers at Universitas Dian Nsuwantoro (Udinus) successfully developed an innovation in the form of a monitoring web utilizing the Internet of Things Internet of Things Technology. The system aimed to help The Caretakers of the Drinking Water Supply Center (KP-SPAMS) of Tirta Jatisari to improve the transparency and accuracy in monitoring the usage of clean water.

KP-SPAMS of Tirta Jatisari is situated in Jatisari, Mijen Subdistrict, Semarang. Before this innovation came into being, a team led by Arga Dwi Pambudi, M.T., (a Lecturer from Udinus) had conducted a survey at the KP-SPAMS of Tirta Jatisari. At the survey, Arga was helped by Zaenal Arifin, M.Eng., and Nur Islahudin, M.T. Three of them are lecturers from the Electrical Engineering Department at Udinus. 

Arga Dwi Pambudi, M.T., explained that the development of the system was to resolve various issues faced by KP-SPAMS. He revealed that KPSAMS of Tirta Jatisari was struggling to monitor water usage due to the usage of conventional technology.

“This problem caused a halt in the billing process and the lack of transparency to the customers,” he uttered.

Arga added that by implementing IoT technology, consumers would be able to monitor water usage in real-time, allowing them to use water efficiently. According to him, through this system, consumers would also be able to look at the water usage directly, in addition to the fact that they would also receive the bill sooner and more transparently.

The innovation was a response to the KP-SPAMS of Tirta Jatisari as a clean water supplier to improve their efficiency. Prior to this, the monitoring and billing system was done manually, causing a halt and a lack of transparency in the billing process.

“One of the most prominent issues is the lack of technological integration in the clean water management system. With this new system, every consumption data is recorded automatically,” Arga said.

As stated by Zaenal Arifin, M.Eng., To run this system, the team developed both software and hardware simultaneously.

He explained that the recording and monitoring of water consumption were done automatically via a device named ESP32-CAM, which is connected to Wi-Fi. Furthermore, Zaenal hoped for this system to be applied by other clean water suppliers in addition to Tirta Jatisari.

 “This innovation has been tested in various and the results are satisfying,” he emphasized. (Humas Udinus/Alex. Foto: Dok. FT)