Development of an IoT-based pumping control system for withdrawal of freshwater from brackish groundwater zone

The Internet of Things (IoT)-based pumping control system is crucial for tackling water quality issues and optimizing pumping operations in brackish groundwater zones like southwest Punjab, ensuring sustainable access to freshwater. In the present study, an IoT-based system for controlling the pumping of freshwater from a brackish groundwater zone in the southwest region of Indian Punjab was developed. The developed system was tested at different locations in the field and the working performance was satisfactory. The statistical comparison of the electrical conductivity (EC) recorded with and without the developed system indicated that the developed sensor-based automatic pumping control system is capable of controlling the pumping of water from tubewells with the set permissible limit of EC of 4 mS/cm as given in the source code. The results revealed that the optimal gap between two consecutive pumping of a tubewell for tapping good quality water in the study area was at most 6 h as affected by EC. Furthermore, it was observed that tubewells with greater depths (182.9–213.4 m) exhibited lower groundwater salinity, whereas those with shallower depths (10.7 m, 19.8 m, 30.5 m and 42.7 m) showed higher salinity levels. The lesser variation of groundwater salinity with pumping duration was at a depth beyond 40 m from the ground surface. The cost of the developed system was computed to be US$ 182.16 only. Overall, the develo­ped system which is cost-effective would be useful for controlling the tubewell operation for tapping good quality water from the brackish groundwater zone in the study region.