DIY ESP32-Based Water Flow Meter: Conserve Water, Save the Planet

Water is one of our most precious resources, vital for all forms of life on Earth. Despite its importance, water wastage is a significant issue globally, contributing to water scarcity and environmental degradation. Efficient water management is crucial in addressing this challenge, and technology plays a vital role in it. By monitoring and managing water usage, we can significantly reduce wastage. As a first step in addressing this, we have designed an IoT based water flow meter. It is powered by the ESP32-S3 SoC from Espressif. We have used an ESP32-S3 Wroom 1 module for the project which will be much easier to handle when assembling the PCB. the device itself is battery powered and the custom PCB contains the necessary battery charging circuitry to recharge the internal battery. The battery charging circuit is based on the MAX1898 single-cell battery charger chip from Analog Devices. For powering the ESP32-S3 we have used the ADP1706 ultra low noise LDO, and for the reset circuitry we have used the ADM803 power supervisory chip. We have also included a provision for a 1.28” round TFT display for any future upgrades. The flow meter can be directly attached to the top of the flow sensor.