Chapter 4 - Blockchain architecture for intelligent water management system in smart cities

Abstract

Smart city is the integrated form of communication with information technology, where massive numbers of devices are interconnected with the Internet of Things (IoT). Based on challenges identified by increasing in the population, industrial growth, and urbanization, there is a need for safeguarding water resources. Hence a blockchain-based system is implemented, which helps to effectively manage the utilization of the water and also helps in handling the wastewater properly by providing an effective sanitation mechanism. Here in the proposed system, the smart water tank and reservoir is designed, which can operate with two modes, viz., the filling mode and the running mode. The user in the smart city is updated periodically about the daily consumption of water with the help of IoT. The system also uses a sensor-based arrangement to formulate the utilization of drinking water by the citizens in the smart city, as many times the drinking water has been utilized for other activities like vehicle washing, house cleaning, plantations, etc. Also, in the aim of effective utilization of drinking water, an automated flow-sensor valve-based system is proposed in this chapter. This system will supply drinking water to each house in a predetermined quantity with dedicated pipelines. The flow sensor calculates the amount of water supplied, and once the limit for a particular house is reached automatically, the valve is shut down. This system also ensures there is no drinking water wastage due to leaking in pipelines through sensors and alerts the concerned person if any such wastage is observed. Hence the drinking water usage can be regulated and scarcity problems can be reduced. The entire system is connected to the cloud for real-time monitoring and indication of abnormalities, which is driven through the blockchain. Thus, the proposed system ensures proper drinking water utilization and reduces water contamination by industries, thereby providing an effective water resource management system powered with the blockchain for security and reliability. Also paving way for enriched water sources and illness free for humankind in smart cities.