2012 International Conference on Information and Computer Applications (ICICA 2012)
IPCSIT vol. 24 (2012) © (2012) IACSIT Press, Singapore
Mobile Software Application for Water Consumption Awareness
(Sawacae)
Adel Khelifi1, Mohammed Ghazal2, Hussain Mohammad Albloushi1 and Mohamed Toubar1
1
2
Software Engineering Department, ALHOSN University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, UAE,
Abstract. With scarce water resources in the region, the importance of conserving water and reducing
electricity usage is more apparent than ever. Water scarcity, for example, continues to drive a multi-billion
dollar investment across the Middle East region; driest region in the world with an average freshwater
availability of third below the level needed for water security. Nevertheless, the general public’s awareness
of the problem has not yet risen to the necessary level to induce improved water and electricity utilization.
For example, UAE water scarcity grows more acute with increasing population and large economic
development plans. The aim of this project is to develop a mobile communication platform between water
and electrical distribution companies and their customers. Through this platform, companies push content to
the mobile devices of their customers to raise awareness, deliver water and electricity consumption
information and provide water and electricity saving tips. To motivate customers to consider those tips, the
platform through usage information creates a feedback channel to allow customers to observe firsthand the
effect of applying these tips. This feedback channel proves crucial to the automatic and early detection and
elimination of leaks.
Keywords: Mobile application, water consumption, awareness
1. Introduction
The water consumption awareness software aim is to aid public or private water company to track and
control water consumption of every individual within every area in the city. By monitoring water usage,
government can save water resources in an effective way. More specifically, this system is designed to allow
water companies to manage and communicate with customers their water usage as well as allowing the
customer to view water consumption data. The software allows employees and external customer to spatially
and temporally track and analyze resource management data. The software will facilitate communication
between customers, and the water company in many ways such as SMS. The system also contains a
relational database containing customers and their history of water usage. One major problem is no formal or
consistent system exists in the Arab region to comprehensively track and analyze actual water usage within
an area with a framework for pushing awareness content to the users. Currently, the actual water usage
tracking is done using manual and semi-automated methodologies by companies in the region.
The contributions of this work are as follows: 1) investigation of the water resource deficiency problem
in the world and region; 2) developing a communication platform between water distribution companies and
consumers using mobile application towards the end goal of conserving water; 3) an algorithm for leak
detection and localization for early response by municipilities, water companies, and consumers; and 4)
developing a low-cost social mobile application to increase the public awareness and response of water
scarcity.
This paper includes the system’s requirements, design, and implementation. The rest of the paper is
organized as follows. In Section 2, we bring into context our proposed system. Section 3 gives a general
description of our proposed methodology. In Section 4, we discuss the functional and non-functional
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requirements of SAWACAE system. The implementation is presented in Section 5. In Section 6, we
conclude and discuss future system’s enhancements.
2. The application context
2.1. Problem Statement
Before addressing the water problem in the MENA (Middle East and Africa) region, it is important to
highlight the importance of water. With two thirds of the earth's surface covered by water and the human
body consisting of 75 percent of it, it is evidently clear that water is one of the prime elements responsible
for life on earth. Water circulates through the land just as it does through the human body, transporting,
dissolving, and refilling nutrients and organic matter, while carrying away waste material. Further in the
body, it regulates the activities of fluids, tissues, cells, lymph, blood and glandular secretions. An average
adult body contains 42 liters of water and with just a small loss of 2.7 liters he or she can suffer from
dehydration, displaying symptoms of irritability, fatigue, nervousness, dizziness, weakness, headaches and
consequently reach a state of pathology. Not only water benefits our health or body, but also we use water in
many aspects of our life such as irrigation, having shower or washing cars. Furthermore, in cities, the
pavements are designed in a way that the rainwater will not infiltrate to the earth but instead, it goes to
sewage and after that to the ocean. On the other hand, if you look to rural areas, you will find that rainwater
infiltrate into the earth and recharge groundwater. However, the infiltrated water is often contaminated with
pesticides.
2.2. Water Scarcity
As experts anticipate the number of Arab countries suffering from water scarcity to climb up to 18 by
2025 from 11 at present, ministers of many countries called for regional unity to ensure water security [1].
•
76% of water in the UAE is used for irrigation
•
3.5m Abu Dhabi's estimated population by 2030
•
30% freshwater availability, which is below needed levels for security
•
2.5% GDP (Gross Domestic Product) wasted due to poor water management
•
18 Arab countries expected to suffer from water scarcity by 2025
•
Driest region in the world — Average freshwater availability in the region is around 30 per cent
below the level needed for water security. Per capita water share is projected to fall by half by
2050. Today, 11 Arab countries suffer from water scarcity and this number is anticipated to
reach 18 by 2025.
•
Fast growing population — The Arab region has one of the highest population growth rates in
the world. For 2005 - 2020 the Arab population is projected to grow at nearly twice the global
average.
•
Growth and diversification driving demand - As Arab economies diversify beyond traditional
sectors, new actors will demand water. Greater demand from increasingly affluent citizens is
also likely.
•
Complex connections between water, food security and climate change - The Arab region is
vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The International Panel on Climate Change
anticipates declining rainfall, soil moisture, and increasing evaporation in the region. Without
changes in policy and technology, water scarcity will reduce agricultural production and threaten
regional food security" [1].
So, if we look to UAE water scarcity, we will find that it is growing more acute with increasing
population and large economic development plans. UAE faces growing challenges with water usage, 24
times larger than the total annual renewable water resources of the emirates. "Irrigation accounts for 76 per
cent of the water use in the country. With growing population demands estimated to be about 3.5 million by
2030 and large economic development plans, our water scarcity problem may grow more acute" [1].
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Figure 1: Water withdrawal as a percentage of available water [2]
2.3. Water Leak Dilemma
High water costs are often a result of problems with inefficient water consumption and leakage problems.
So, of the many options available for conserving water, leak detection is a logical first step.
The primary cause of excessive unaccounted for water is often leaks. Unaccounted-for water is the
difference between water produced (metered at the treatment facility) and metered use (i.e., sales plus nonrevenue producing metered water). Unaccounted-for water can be expressed in millions of gallons per day
(mgd) but is usually discussed as a percentage of water production [3]: Unaccounted-for water (%) =
((Production - metered use) x 100%)/(Production)
Large leaks do not necessarily contribute to a greater volume of lost water, particularly if water reaches
the surface; they are usually found quickly, isolated, and repaired. Undetected leaks, even small ones, can
lead to large quantities of lost water since these leaks might exist for long periods of time. Besides, according
to Orange Water and Sewer Authority [4], the water leak cost is estimated as follows (Tab 1):
Tab.1 gallon and dollar costs of leaks
size
leak
of
gallons
water/
cost
gallons
wasted per DAY (if
sewer
per
wasted
water pressure is 60
DAY at 1.2¢ per
WEEK
lbs./sq. in.)
gallon
water/
per
sewer
cost
gallons
per
WEEK at 1.2¢
wasted
MONTH
per gallon
water/
per
sewer
cost
per
MONTH at 1.2¢
per gallon
1/16"
360
$4.32
2,520
$30.24
10,800
$129.60
1/8"
3,096
$37.15
21,672
$260.06
92,880
$1,114.56
3/16"
8,424
$101.09
58,968
$707.62
252,720
$3,032.64
1/4"
14,952
$179.42
104,664
$1,255.97
448,560
$5,382.72
We need solutions now as water security is disappearing. It is high time that we stop assessing the
problem and start resolving it [1]. Water conservation in business is not only an important factor
environmentally, but can also mean huge monetary savings. According to Maddaus, water conservation
initiatives are more likely to succeed if they are socially acceptable. Comparisons to previous bills and tips
on water conservation can help consumers make informed choices about water use. Systems can include
inserts in their customers’ water bills that provide information on water use and costs or tips for home water
conservation.
3. The Proposed Methodology
3.1. Methodology of the application development
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“A software development methodology is a framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the
process of developing a software product which includes the pre-definition of specific deliverables and
artifacts that are created and completed by a project team to develop or maintain an application” [5].
A thorough research using the web has been conducted to test the novelty of this idea. The results
revealed that there was no mobile application for water consumption awareness.
3.2. System Deployment Environment
SAWACAE system is developed using the Android Software Development Kit. The Android software
development kit (SDK) includes a comprehensive set of development tools. These include a debugger,
libraries, a handset emulator, documentation, sample code, and tutorials. Android applications are packaged
in .apk format and stored under /data/app folder on the Android OS (the folder is accessible only to root user
for security reasons). APK package contains .dex files (compiled byte code files called Dalvik executables),
resource files, etc.
3.3. Technologies and Tools Used in the Project
•
This section provides the list of technologies and tools used in this project.
•
Microsoft Office Project 2007 provides enhanced tools to help in tracking and controlling
project work, schedules, and finances. This software was chosen to lead the process of
developing SAWACAE system. Its’ easy formatting helped in presenting project data in form
of reports, charts, PDF documents, and one-page printable schedules. It has been used to
generate a Gantt chart showing the project’s time/plan schedule.
•
Android software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and
key applications. The Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing
applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.
•
Eclipse 3.6 is an integrated development environment (IDE) using the Android Development
Tools (ADT) Plugin, though developers used text editor to edit Java and XML files then used
command line tools (Java Development Kit and Apache Ant are used) to create, build and debug
Android applications as well as control attached Android devices (e.g., triggering a reboot,
installing software package(s) remotely).
•
SmartDraw provides useful tools for generating different types of charts, such as Flow and Gantt
charts. It also helps in generating Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams, such as class
diagrams and sequence diagrams. It helps also in creating Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERD).
It was used to create ERD and sequence diagrams [6].
•
Microsoft Office Visio 2007: “Microsoft Office Visio 2007 drawing and diagramming software
makes it easy for IT and business professionals to visualize, explore, and communicate complex
information” [7]. It provides various easy-to-use tools that assist in the process of creating
diagrams. Microsoft Visio was used for creating the data Model (Database Schema) for
SAWACAE system.
4. Requirements Analysis
4.1. Software Requirements Specification
“A requirements engineering process is a structured set of activities which are followed to derive,
validate and maintain a systems requirements document” [8]. This process is best described by the software
engineer and computer scientist “Fred Brooks” who is also known as “the father of the IBM System/360
computer family” when he said “The hardest part of building a software system is deciding what to build. No
part of the work so cripples the resulting system if done wrong. No other part is more difficult to rectify later.”
This Software Requirements Specification (SRS) specifies the requirements and functions of SAWACAE
system. It aims to fully explain the system features, performance and constraints. It will also explain the way
the system will respond to users’ needs regarding event organizing, how it will react under different
55
circumstances and the way it will manage content. The SRS is intended for both stake holders and
developers of the system.
4.2. Functional Requirements
“Functional requirements specify the functions of the system, how it records, computes, transforms, and
transmits data” [9]. They are intended to describe the inputs, outputs and behavior of a system. The
following figures 2, 3 and 4 outline the use cases for each of the active actor separately. The customer, the
administrator, the data entry operator, the account manager, and the researcher are the main actors of the
system.
Figure 2: Use Case Diagram Part 1 (Customer)
56
Figure 3: Use Case Diagram Part 2 (Administrator and Account Manager)
Figure 4: Use Case Diagram Part 3 (Researcher, Data entry operator and Web Agent)
57
4.3. Class Diagram
Class diagrams are widely used to describe the types of objects in a system and their relationships. Class
diagrams model using design elements such as classes, packages and objects. Class diagrams describe three
different perspectives when designing a system, conceptual, specification, and implementation. These
perspectives become obvious as the diagram is created and help solidify the design. The following figure 5
presents SAWACAE class diagram.
Figure 5: SAWACAE Class Diagram
4.4. Sequence Diagram
“A sequence diagram is a time-oriented interaction diagram showing the chronological sequence of
messages between objects. Each sequence diagram corresponds to one use case” [10]. Many sequence
diagrams were developed in order to provide a proper system’s design and implementation. The following
sequence diagram (figure 6) illustrates the Create User function of SAWACAE system. The Admin opens
his homepage creates and assign privileges to a specific user.
Figure 6: Create User Sequence Diagram
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5. Impleementatioon
In the implementatiion phase thee system dessign is converted to code, that generrates a comp
plete system,,
based on thhe requiremennts addressedd and defineed at the begiinning by thee stakeholdeers. The main
n deliverablee
of this phaase is the first
f
versionn of SAWA
ACAE system
m, which im
mplements all the coree and basicc
functionalitties of the syystem. Later versions incclude enhanccements to the
t current ffunctionalitiees as well ass
addition of advanced feaatures.
5.1. Client-Server Architectur
A
re
“An arcchitectural style or patteern abstractss the commo
on properties of a familly of similarr designs. Itt
contains a set of rules, constraints,, and patternns of how to
o structure a system intoo a set of elements andd
connectors, even if it might not be
b the mostt elegant, th
he fastest, orr the most economical, the chosenn
n one particuular aspect off the system constraints””
architecturee must be “opptimal” and not necessarrily focus on
[10]. The choice of a software archhitectural styyle has tremeendous effeccts on all asppects of softtware designn
and implem
mentation. Ann architecturaal style selecction that is inaccurate miight have a nnegative influ
uence on thee
system’s development time, the application’s
a
s response time, and the
t
system’ss future fleexibility andd
maintenance [11].
The prooposed Mobile Applicatioon has two modules:
m
1. The Front
F
End: a client-side application
a
thhat is running
g on mobile phones. Maiinly, it presen
nts:
9 Water usagee statistics inn short-term mode: virtuaal meters shoowing the avverage of thee last hour off
usage for booth electricityy and water
9 Water usagge statistics in
i long-term
m mode: a baar chart of thhe last weekk of usage, and
a displayss
awareness content,
c
whiich is invokeed by a button that displays pushed content E.g
g., of pushedd
content: savving tips. It iss implementeed using RSS
S technologyy.
2. The Back-end seerver or a seet of servers, which is ru
unning at thhe distributioon companies’ side. It iss
tasked with:
9 Recording usage
u
inform
mation received from smaart meters at the
t customerr site in a dattabase;
9 Serving usaage informatiion to the cusstomer’s mobile applicattion;
9 Pushing aw
wareness conttent to the cuustomer's app
plication;
9 Detecting annd alerting users
u
to suspeected leaks;
9 Building a leak map with integrrated custom
mer informaation for thee distributio
on companyy
personnel too call and alert those cusstomers in caase of an exttended unressolved leak. The
T figure 7
below illusttrates SAWA
ACE high levvel of architeecture.
Finally,, there is hiddden service part. It starteed on first ap
pplication laaunch, checkks regularly for
f leaks andd
issues a notification, whhenever needded, for immeediate user action.
Fiigure 7: SAW
WACAE Clientt Server Archiitecture
5.2.
SAW
WACAE Useer Interface
The folllowing figurre 8 presents the SAWAC
CAE Graphicc User Interfa
face.
59
Notificatio
Water
Usage
Indicato
Awareness Content
Figure 8: SAWACAE Graphic User Interface
6. Conclusion and Future Enhancements
The water scarcity problem goes largely unnoticed by the public. UAE faces growing challenges with
water usage which is 24 times larger than the annual renewable water resources. According to Sarah
Woodbridge, Group Director of the Exhibitions at IIR Middle East, ''UAE currently consumes more water
per person than any other country in the world with the exception of the United States and Canada”. Our
application helps raise the public awareness of the problem to induce positive cultural changes. Our mobile
application combines both the problem awareness and the solution using a feedback loop in one convenient
and mobile location. SAWACAE can be developed further to include a lot of modules because the proposed
system is developed on the view of future, for example we can use satellite images, or geographic
information systems (GIS) that will help us in providing data on ground and surface water levels, water
quality, stream flows, and climatologically trends will be used in this system. The proposed system could be
integrated with GIS, or other databases that has information about water. Data in these systems could be
logically linked, thus the information will be moving between different servers in different locations.
7. References
[1]. Incorporated, D. M. (2011, March 22). UAE, Kuwait, Oman face acute water scarcity. Retrieved 11
09, 2011, from Emirates 24/7: 1. http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/environment/experts-warn-oflooming-acute-water-scarcity-1.653114
[2]. World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Geneva, 1996; Global Environment Outlook 2000
(GEO), UNEP, Earthscan, London, 1999. http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/freshwater-stress-1995and-2025
[3]. Lahlou, Z. M. (2001). Leak Detection and Water Loss Control. Tech Brief , 04.
http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/ndwc/pdf/ot/tb/tb_leakdetection.pdf
[4]. Authority,
O. W. (2011). What is the cost of a water leak? Carrboro: OWASA.
http://www.owasa.org/client_resources/conservation/what%20is%20the%20cost%20of%20a%20wa
ter%20leak%20oct%202010.pdf
[5]. Software development methodology. (2011, March 18). Retrieved March 25, 2011, from Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_development_methodology
[6]. Introduction to UML-Unified Modeling Language UML- SmartDraw Tutorials. (n.d.). Retrieved
December
25,
2010,
from
SmartDraw
http://www.smartdraw.com/resources/tutorials/uml-diagrams/
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Communicate
Visually:
[7]. Microsoft Office Visio 2007 Top 10 Benefits. (2011). Retrieved April 27, 2011, from Microsoft
Office:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/visio/microsoft-office-visio-2007-top-10-benefitsHA010165031.aspx
[8]. Kotonya, G., & Sommerville, I. (1998). Requirements engineering processes and techniques. New
York: John Wiley & Sons.
[9]. Lauesen, S. (2002). Software requirements styles and techniques. London: Addison-Wesley.
[10]. Qian, K., Fu, X., Tao, L., Xu, C.-W., & Diaz-herrera, J. L. (2010). Software architecture and design
illuminated. Sudbury,Massachusetts: Jones and Barlett publishers.
[11]. Gallaugher, J., & Ramanathan, S. (1995, July 28). The Critical Choice of Client Server Architecture:
A Comparison of Two and Three Tier Systems. Retrieved April 24, 2011, from BOSTON
COLLEGE personal web server: https://www2.bc.edu/~gallaugh/research
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