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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Project Context

Philippines is a tropical country that has two seasons which are the dry

season and wet season. Due to the climate imbalance we cannot predict when it

will rain and we cannot measure the amount of rain that can cause floods. Many

residents are affected by destructions of the floods due to poor dissemination of

information to the locals such as late responses coming from the authorities and

inaccurate information that causes people not to be prepared. The Municipality

Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council are expected to be the frontline of

emergency measures in the aftermath of disasters. As huge manifestation of

disasters recorded, authorities find ways on how to alarm their people. Most of the

early flood warning systems today have advanced features that are very useful for

disaster preparedness.

Flood Monitoring and Early Warning System Using Ultrasonic Sensor that

the project contributes towards economy and the citizens. It envisions a safe,

prepared and less casualty community before, during and after typhoon

devastation. The model also promotes the use of real-time monitoring system

through the developed web-based application and SMS notification system as an

easy medium in disseminating information particularly in the remote areas.

(Natividad and Mendez, 2018). The Floods Directive reflects that flood risk

management has shifted from flood protection to the more comprehensive

approach of integrated flood risk management (Bubeck, et al., 2017). People who
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have witnessed a flood recently tend to be better prepared and tend to have a

better idea of what to do when a warning reaches them (Kienzler, 2015).

Flood alarm system will send notification to give alarm to the residents

and authorities in Municipality Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council so

that they can directly inform the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to give the

overall alarm by turning on their sirens. Arduino System is an open-source

electronics platform based in easy-to-use hardware and software that is able to

read inputs through a sensor and turn it into an output- activating a motor, turning

on an LED and can send SMS to the authorities. Light indicator will be use to

determine the water level of the river banks. It can monitor and save records about

the incident and store the information in the database.

The proposed study will give awareness to the places that are prone to

flooding. It can replace to the traditional way of alarming people which is by

banging a piece of iron in every home. It can save properties and lessen casualties.

Therefore, this system can be used by the Municipality Disaster Risk Reduction

Management Council to improve their ways of alarming people during floods.

Purpose and Description

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The proposed system is responsible for notifying and alarming residents as

well as the authorities of the Municipality Disaster Risk Reduction Management

Council. It will give information about the level of the water in the river banks.

Also, it has a light indicator that indicates the water level of flood. This flood

alarm system can be used to replace the traditional way of alarming people in

times of flood calamity.

This project is designed to mobilize the system in disseminating

emergency alert to the community especially to the families who live in the river

and coastal area. By this, people will be able to prepare their belongings, able to

evacuate and this will help lessen the number of casualties.

Objectives of the Study

The researchers aim to meet the following:

 To provide an effective and efficient alarm system for the residents

 To give the four (4) levels of alarm through the color indicators and

ascending level of sound alarm; Green light (calm), Yellow light (ready),

Orange light (Set), Red light (Go).

 To provide safety and precautions to the community

 To promote proper delegation of information in times of flood

 To change the present way of alarming people when there is flood by

banging a piece of iron hang in the homes near the river

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Scope and Limitations

This study will be conducted to the places that are prone to flooding. The

system will be able to notify the residents and authorities in the Municipality

Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRRMC) through an SMS and

would identify the level of need to evacuate through the color detection.

Municipality Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRRMC) are

expected to notify the residents and the respective responder they can tap to help

in evacuation for the people who are affected in the flood. Duties and function

that are not mentioned above are beyond the scope of this study.

Significance of the Study

The success of this study was found relevant to the following people.

Bureau of Fire Protection. This study will provide them with awareness

to know the accurate level of needs for the BFP to respond and for

them to give alarms and signals immediately.

Municipality Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council. This

study will help them to monitor the water level of the river banks

and to let them disseminate the information and to raise public

awareness about those hazards, vulnerabilities, and risk reduction,

and management at the local level.

Residents. This will be relevant for they can prepare themselves

immediately and they can have time to save important belongings.

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Furthermore, it can reduce casualties and damages within their

homes.

Chapter 2
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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND RELATED STUDIES

This chapter presents the different researches and related studies

necessary in providing information through understanding the concept and

function of this study.

Related Literature

In order to avoid the different effects of a flood, adaptations must be

considered such as raising the mechanicals and valuables, relocation, renovation

of houses, getting flood insurance and staying informed. This is being

supported by the Theory of Urban Resilience. It states that resilience to flood

challenges the conventional wisdom that cities cannot live without flood control.

To enable floodplain functions in building resiliency to floods, flood adaptation is

suggested in order to take over flood control for the flood hazards mitigation.

(Guardian, 2017).

Globally, the troubles caused by floods are evident. Reported that more

than 1,200 people have died across India, Bangladesh, and Nepal as a result

of flooding on August 29, 2017, Tuesday. The International Federation of the

Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says the fourth significant floods

this year have affected more than 7.4 million people, damaging or destroying

more than 697,000 houses; in total 17.1 million have been affected. In the

northern state of Uttar Pradesh, about 2.5 million have been affected. This is only

one of the many flood incidents in international view. Since global flood-induced
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problems are seemingly evident, Philippines also experience the deleterious

effects of flooding (Siddique, 2017).

They discussed about three-dimensional planning mergers (land, policies

and institutions) with flood risk management as an effective approach to reduce

the risks of flooding. The lack of easy access to information and the right tools to

use are barriers of achieving to this approach. To facilitate the effective

integration of flood risk management in these three parts there is a need to define

infrastructures which contains data and information, systems, decision support,

analysis tools, and annexed protocols a study of Integrating Spatial Planning and

Flood risk management: A new conceptual framework for the spatially integrated

policy infrastructure (Ran and Nedovic, 2016).

Flooding is one of the most serious problems in the Philippines today.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical

Services Administration (PAGASA), flooding is characterized as an “abnormal

progressive rise in the water level of a stream that may result in the overflowing

by the water of the normal confines of the stream with the subsequent inundation

of areas which are not normally submerged (Castro, 2015).

After the 2015 United Nations provided a framework for disaster

risk reduction in order to save money and lives and reduces the impact of severe

accidents by warning systems to strengthen disaster risk management. They stated

that flood forecasting systems on a global scale could be appropriate flood warning

information to national authorities to be prepared on how to cope with flooding in

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the future. Implementation of these warning systems on a continental scale has an

effective role in improving the face of natural hazards such as floods.

(Pappenbergerer, et al., 2015).

Related Studies

Prashanth Water Level Meter for Alerting Population about Floods by

Using AT MEGA 2560

This micro-model is performed on the basis of a programmable electronic

printed circuit AT MEGA 2560, an electronic circuit connected to electrical

resistances that are located at a specific height, within a water container: when the

water level rises and reaches the resistors, varies the impedance, the information

from water level sensor is transmitted via Wi-Fi to a laptop, then this information

is also seen in Smartphone’s, where users can see the water level in rivers. The

main aim of this project is to design a system which will monitor and control the

water level in the dams and also intimates the concerned authority when the water

level (Begum, et al., 2017).

Disaster Debris Detection and Management System using WSN & IoT

The Wireless Sensor Network plays a vital role in detection and

management of debris flow and helps in decreasing after effects of flow of debris.

Debris flow systems for warning are divided as: advanced warning system and

event warning system. The two classes incorporate various types of system
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sensors. Advance warning systems measures hydro meteorological procedures

(commonly precipitation) and plan to generate a notice prior to occurrence of

debris stream.

Event warning scheme predicts the occurrence of debris in advance i.e.

before a disaster is likely to occur. They utilize extremely shorter lead times but at

the same time they also lead to erroneous cautions. Advance warning in debris

stream utilizes sensors and systems to measure parameters of debris stream flow

after it has occurred, it utilizes larger lead times and at the same time it does not

lead to any erroneous cautions (Chaitra and Sivakumar, 2017).

Flood Detector System using Arduino

The system will function when the admin activates the system and when

water along the road detected by distance over ultrasonic sensor. When the flood

occurs, the ultrasonic sensor will send signal to the microprocessor circuit and the

sensed water level will be display in the user interface and it will automatically

send a Short Message Service (SMS) to those recognized residents and it will

continue update until the water level detected returns to normal. The process

repeats as the water level continuous to rise (De Guzman, et al., 2016).

Portable Water Level Monitoring System via SMS

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The main purpose of the project was to give warn people of the water level

of the river. There are three levels of warning. These are the minor level, moderate

level, and the major level. When the water level reaches the minor level sensor,

the device will send SMS which has this message. “The water level starts to

become higher please stay at home”. When the water level reaches the moderate

level sensor, the device will send SMS which has this message “Warning! The

water level reached the moderate level, please prepare all things that you need,

evacuation is possible at any time!” And when the water level reaches the major

level sensor, the device will send SMS which has this message “Alert! The water

level reaches the critical level, please evacuate immediately” (Vitales, et al.,

2015).

GSM & web-based Flooding Monitoring System

The purpose of this project is to develop a local real-time river flood

monitoring and warning system for the selected communities near Mandulog

River. This study focuses only on the detection and early warning alert system

(via website and/or cell phone text messages) that alerts local subscribers of

potential flood events. Furthermore, this system is interactive wherein all non-

registered subscribers could inquire the actual water level of the desired area

location they want to monitor. An estimated time a particular river waterway will

overflow is also included in the analyses. The hardware used in the design is split

into several parts namely: the water level detector, GSM module, and

microcontroller development board. (Pagatpat, et al., 2015).

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Synthesis

The related literature and studies have a significant relationship in our

study in the sense that both are discussing how floods can bring so many causes.

In addition, the studies use microcontrollers and sensors as well as SMS based

communication to notify residents. In the country of India, Bangladesh, and Nepal

it has reported that more than 1,200 people have died because of flooding.

Siddique also stated that Philippines is facing a serious problem caused by

flooding. In order to avoid the different effects of flood, adaptations must be

considered such as raising the mechanicals and valuables, relocation, renovation

of houses, getting flood insurance, and staying informed. The studies that are

stated above have the same goals on how to be prepared and give warn to the

people that are experiencing flood calamity. They have different idea and feature

in their studies but have the same objectives and goals. The flood monitoring

system gives a big impact to develop this kind of system that could aid the

alternative way of disseminating of information.

Chapter 3
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DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the design and methodology of the proposed study,

Flood Alarm System using Arduino for the Municipality Disaster Risk Reduction

Management Council (MDRRMC). It describes the flow of the system that

corresponds to the process and discusses the software and hardware specification

of the system.

METHODOLOGY

This study is made because of our concern to the residents that are mostly

affected when it comes to floods. Due to the unpredicted rain falls and the amount

of it, especially when it comes to typhoon many residents will suffer from the

flood. The researchers concerns and the data being gathered help us to come up

with the system “Bantay Baha: Flood Alarm System using Arduino” for the

Municipality Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council which help the

MDRRMC to monitor the water level and to disseminate the information by the

coordination of the Bureau of Fire Protection. The residents would have enough

time to prepare and secure their properties.

To put the study into reality, the researchers gather data on what flood can

bring to our places. It was revealed that most of the residents experienced the

same problems regarding on their businesses, properties, and health when flood

occurs. It was stated that the dissemination of information is much delayed and it

is too late for them to prepare and to secure their properties.

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Figure 1. Iterative Waterfall Model

The researchers will use the Iterative Waterfall Model as the method of

making this study. The first phase is the requirements gathering, which involves

documentations so that the researchers have the evidence in making this study.

The second phase is designing; it is designing the system through the use of

programming language. After designing, implementation is the next which the

system will be implemented to the user so that the researchers could identify the

errors in the system. Verification is the next phase which is to establish the

accuracy of the system, and the last is the maintenance of the system. The

researchers will use this method because when some errors are detected in the

preceding phase, they could go back to that phase and correct it or reworked that

phase. The methods that the researchers will be using are the unified modeling
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language and the data flow diagram. Unified modeling language is the method

used to identify the interaction between the user and the system, and also to

illustrate how functionalities relate and their internal/external controllers. Data

flow diagram is a graphical representation of the flow of data through an

information system. It shows what kind of information will be inputted to and

outputted from the system and where the data will be stored. The researchers will

use these methods to visualize the interaction between the user and the system to

further show the flow of the data in the system.

Technical Background

The proposed Flood Alarm System using Arduino will be conducted for

the Municipality Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council. The researchers

will come up to this idea that could help or solve the problem in times of flooding

and also to help the MDRRMC to monitor and disseminate the information before

the flood occurs.

To realize the study, the proponents purchased the following hardware:

Arduino Mega 2560 Acrylic Enclosure; this will help to protect the board. Jumper

Wires Male – Female 20cm; the male ends will be meant for insertion into the

female sockets. Jumper Wires Male – Male 20cm; will be used in connecting two

ports on a breadboard. Buzzer 3V / 5V; will be the audio signaling device. WIFI

Serial Transceiver Module ESP8266; will be used to communicate from the

Arduino to the computer. Arduino Mega 2560 Rev3; will be used as our

microcontroller board.AC/DC 9V – 2A Power Adapter with Cable; it will serve as

the source. Breadboard 400 Tie Point Interlocking Solderless; will be used for
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prototyping of electronics construction. LED Holder 5mm Chromed Metal

Narrow Bevel; will keep 5mm LEDs in place. LED 3mm 5mm Pack Red Green

Yellow Blue White; will be used as a water level indicator. Ultrasonic Ranging

Sensor US-100; will be used to measure the water level. SD Card Socket Module;

Install a SD card into the socket and connect this module to Arduino with jumper

wire, with the given SD card library, you can write and read data with the SD card

in your project. Ultrasonic Ranging Sensor Bracket; is plastic bracket for the

Ultrasonic Ranging Sensor, to help users install this sensor to another platform.

LCD 12C 1602 Display Module Blue Blacklight; will display screen module for

Arduino. Arduino compatible GSM Module; is a chip or circuit that will be used

to establish communication between a mobile device or a computing machine and

a GSM or GPRS system.

Arduino Components Installations

Figure 1. LED
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The Arduino is a convenient source of 5 Volts, that we will use to provide power to

the 4 LED and 4 resistors. The pins of each lead has a corresponding pin numbers.

LED Green in pin 46, LED Yellow in pin 47, LED Orange in pin 48 and LED Red in

pin 49.  

Figure 2. LCD

It has 4 digital pins. 1 is connected to our Ground which is GND. The other 1which is

VCC is connected to the 5V.

Figure 3. Ultrasonic Sensor

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The HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Module has 4 pins, Ground, VCC, Trig and Echo. The

Ground and the VCC pins of the module needs to be connected to the Ground and the 5

volts pins on the Arduino Board respectively and the trig and echo pins to any Digital I/O

pin on the Arduino Board. The Trig pin is connected to pin 44 and the Echo pin is in pin

45.

Figure 4. ESP8266

The ESP8266 Wifi module is a complete WiFi network where you can easily connect as

a serving Wi- Fi adapter, wireless internet access interface to any microcontroller based

design on its simple connectivity through Serial Communication or UART interface.

Has 6 digital pins. The SD card module is specially useful for projects that require data
Figure 5. SD Card Module
logging.The Arduino can create a file in an SD card to write and save data using

the SD library. It is connected to the 3.3v or 5v.

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INPUT SYSTEM OUTPUT

SERVER USER’S MOBILE

WIFI PHONE
MODULE (MONITORING &
STORE) (DATABASE)

ULTRASONIC
ALERT
SENSOR ARDUINO
(LEAD & BUZZER)
USER’S MOBILE
PHONE

(SMS)
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FLOOD

(WATER LEVEL)

Figure 2. Block Diagram

The proposed system will be placed near the river bank in order to

measure and detect the water level. This system is only a prototype, it uses

centimetre (cm) as unit of measurement to show how the system works. Start –

send ultrasonic wave to the ground and evaluate the distance of the object to the

ground if water level = 1cm – 20cm; green light (CALM), if water level = 21cm –

40cm; yellow light (READY), if water level = 41cm – 60cm; orange light (SET)

the led will blink every second with its buzzer then notify the MDRRMC that the

water level is above normal level advise for evacuation, if 61cm – 80cm; red light

(GO) the led will blink half second with its buzzer then notify the MDRRMC that

the water is at critical level force evacuation is must. The records of data will be

sent to the server using PHP as its server-side scripting language. This will be

used to develop a static websites or dynamic website or web applications.

Moreover, those data will be stored into its database using MySQL. It will store

the data of floods specifically the date, time, and the measurement of the water

level. The server side will use at least dual core processor and has 2 gigabyte

Ram. A sketch is the name that Arduino uses for a program. It’s the unit of code

that is uploaded to and run on an Arduino board.

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Context Diagram

Analog Signal Message Details MDRRMC/

Sensor Bantay Baha
BFP

Message Details

Residents
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Data Flow Diagram (Existing)

P1
P1
Traditional way of
alarming residents Sound
through banging of s Residents
iron piece

Figure 3. Data Flow Diagram (Existing)

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Data Flow Diagram (Proposed)

D2 Responders/Residents

Mobile
Number

Message P3

Send MDRRMC
Message
Message
Details

Analog
P1 BFP
Signal
Device Message
Process Details
Signal

Flood Residents
Information Message
Details

P2

Stores Flood
Information
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Flood
Information

D1 Flood_Info.

Figure 3. DataChapter
Flow Diagram
4 (Proposed)

COST ANALYSIS

This chapter shows the cost and benefits of our study and the total development cost of

our

system.

Steps Elapse Time Cost

Feasibility Study 15 days 5,120.00

System Analysis 10 days 3,145.00

System Design 35 days 9,150.00

Implementation/Prototyping 20 days 2,350.00

Sub-Total 80 days 20,365.00

Miscellaneous 1000.00

Grand Total 21,365.00

Detailed Expenses:
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Feasibility Study (15 days)

Project Leader - 5,120.00

Project Analyst - 1,200.00

Fare - 600.00

Researches - 500.00

Snack/Meal - 1,320.00

Total: 5,120.00

System Analysis (10 days)

System Analyst - 2,500.00

5 pcs. Ball pens (7pesos each) - 35.00

Fare - 150.00

Snack/Meal - 400.00

1 pad Yellow paper - 20.00

2 Folder - 16.00

2 Fastener - 4.00

1 Plastic Envelope - 20.00

Total: 3,145.00

System Design (35 days)

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Project Designer - 4000.00

Fare - 150.00

Arduino and components - 4000.00

Snack/Meal - 1,000.00

Total: 9,150.00

System Implementation (20 days)

Project Leader - 1500.00

Fare - 150.00

Snack/Meal - 600.00

e-Load - 100.00

Total: 2,350.00
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Chapter 5

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter presents the summary or the research work undertaken, the conclusion

drawn and the recommendations made as a total running of this study. This research is on

performance evaluation by giving time to have a proper implementing and monitoring.

Results and Discussion

A flood occurs when water inundates land that's normally dry, which can happen in

a multitude of ways. Most floods take hours or even days to develop, giving residents

time to prepare or evacuate. Others generate quickly and with little warning. So-

called flash floods can be extremely dangerous, instantly turning a babbling brook or

even a dry wash into rushing rapids that sweep everything in their path downstream.

The researchers observed that the proposed system - Bantay Baha meets the objective

stated on chapter 2 providing reliable information through live data graph shown via web

application by the use of a wireless connection connected to the main Arduino controller.

The four light indicators give a factual response through its individual given

measurement. It lights-up if the measurement is equal to the measurement of the given

indicator. The system sends messages through our mobile numbers that represent as

residents and authorities to test the system.

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Conclusion

The researchers concluded that the system helps a lot for the residence by sending

messages about the water level and have time to prepare pact their things. It is also

relevant because the resident will be at eased and don’t have to used their traditional way

of alarming which is by banging of iron piece.

The researchers also concluded that the system is a great help for the authorities by

showing a relevant real time monitoring about the water level. The system has a light

indicator to show what level the water is and has a sound alarm attached on it.

The researcher also found out that the place where the system should be placed in

a signal area so that the sending of messages will be efficient and smooth.

Recommendation
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The following recommendations will be offered based on the conclusion and findings of

the study regarding for the improvement of the research for the future researchers.

1. The researchers recommend for the future researchers that the system can be

monitored through mobile devices even if the users are out of town.

2. It would be much better if the municipal has their online portal and that the

system will be associated with it as its module so that residents can also monitor

the flood level.

3.