Managing water resources is a challenging task for any organization.

The more effectively you monitor water systems, the more time and money your organization saves.

Flow Meters are common tools for measuring water usage. You’ll learn how to automatically, and remotely monitor flow meters in this story.

You’ll receive a step-by-step tutorial of how to connect your Seametrics flow meters to Tools.Valarm.net a.k.a. Valarm Tools Cloud.

Note that since Valarm Tools Cloud is an open, flexible platform, our customers use all brands of sensors, water well level sensors, and flow meters made by any hardware manufacturer like McCrometer and EKM Metering.

Flow meters are often combined with additional water well sensors like pressure transducers to manage water wells and the health of aquifers.

You’re looking at Seametrics iMag 4700 flow meters in the photos contained in this write-up. In order to monitor flow meters with Tools.Valarm.net, you’ll need the following key hardware from Shop.Valarm.net:

  • Sensor Hubs (these give you a way to upload sensor information to the clouds via any internet connectivity, like GSM or CDMA cell network, ethernet, LPWAN, LoRa, or WiFi)
  • PWM Sensor Adapters

 

Step 1 is to connect and link your sensor hubs to Tools.Valarm.net by following this 4-minute video tutorial.

Next up you’ll connect your Seametrics flow meters to your PWM sensor adapters.

In the pictures you’re seeing how to wire up your PWM sensors and Seametrics flowmeters. Unscrew the blue lid from your Seametrics iMag 4700 flow meters and connect wires to the (+) and (-) connections detailed in your Seametrics manual.

We used black and white/red cables in the photos you’re looking at. Here’s more detailed info on how you’ll wire up your flow meters so you can remotely monitor water usage with Tools.Valarm.net:

  • Jump your Pull Up (PU) and sensor input channels by connecting them together with a wire or jumper
  • Connect your (+) / positive connections from your Seametrics iMag 4700 flow meters to the PU / sensor input blocks on your PWM sensor adapters
  • Connect your (-) / negative connections from your Seametrics iMag 4700 flow meters to the ground channel inputs on your PWM sensor adapters

You’ve done it. Those are the key steps for monitoring flow meters with Tools.Valarm.net.

Now you’ve got your choice of power and energy sources. For example, you can use solar panel power or standard mains 110V. Put your sensor hardware in a weatherproof box and you’re good to go. That’s it.

Contact us and have a look at our Customer Stories page if you need help or ideas to see how other organizations and government agencies deploy monitoring boxes monitored by Tools.Valarm.net.

You can configure your Seametrics flow meter pulse outputs to be the exact amount you need, for example outputting 1 pulse for every 50 / fifty gallons or 100 / hundred liters of flow quantity.

Have a look at our blog and other videos on Valarm.net to learn more about how to configure calculators and totalizers for your flow meters that keep track of a running total in the units you need, e.g., inch acres or gallons.

Once your Industrial IoT water sensor information is on Tools.Valarm.net, you can do just what you need to do with it, like:

  • Graphing
  • Mapping
  • Exporting as CSV
  • Analyzing
  • Alerting

Our customers and their organizations integrate flow meters and water level sensors into real-time web dashboards, where you, your teams, and your organization can conveniently monitor and manage your water resources, water wells, or any other industrial assets on any device with a web browser, like your tablet, phone, or laptop.

Are you a more video-based visual learner? Watch our video tutorial on connecting your Seametrics flow meters to Tools.Valarm.net.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’ve got any questions about water monitoring systems, water quality, water wells, flood warning systems, or anything else.