Automatic water supply system for greenhouse

Problem

A greenhouse producer needed an automatic water supply system that could provide the optimal amount of water and nutrients to their plants. The system needed to be able to automatically control the water level of their tanks, circulate the water with pumps, and regulate the concentration of nutrients and pH levels. Similar systems on the market where impossible to find within the budget and did generally not have the necessary functionalities.

Solution

Nubis was contracted to implement a custom-designed automatic water supply system that utilized advanced control algorithms and automation technologies. The system included sensors to monitor the water level, temperature and water flow, water chemistry and pH. Centralizing around a large tank, it used dosing pumps, circulation pumps for stirring the water and ensuring uniform mixing of nutrients and booster pumps for even and effective distribution of water throughout the greenhouse. Nubis was responsible for designing the mechanics, electronics, electrical system, do sourcing of components, building prototypes, and create design documents and bill of material documents.

The system included automatic dosing and regulation of nutrients and pH using PID control algorithms, which allowed for precise and accurate adjustments to the water chemistry at any point in time. Therefore, able to maintain ideal nutrient and pH levels for the plants resulting in healthier and more productive crops.

All the pumps and sensors had a software control and remote monitoring into a cloud solution where the greenhouse employees could monitor and adjust every aspect of the system.

Conclusion

The automatic water supply system ended up costing 10% in capital investment compared to similar systems on the market. It was extremely robust and required almost no maintenance. The greenhouse built several units within the first year.