Testing submersible pressure transducers to monitor water level in tanks

Abstract

It is often desirable to monitor the water level in water bodies with an uncertainty smaller than +- 5 mm. In this context, the goal of this work was to test two models of a "new generation" of submersible pressure-transducers, i.e. instruments with an integrated temperature sensor and a datalogger that automatically corrects the effect of temperature on the pressure-transducer output. The experimental results and some theoretical considerations suggest that these transducers can be used to monitor the water level in drinking water tanks for weeks with an uncertainty between +- 5 and +- 7 mm [p = 0.95], provided that the water level is smaller than 5 m, and that the water temperature remains within a range of +- 5 °C. This work indirectly shows that it would not be so easy to monitor the water level in others water bodies (lakes, rivers, canals, dam embankments and the sea) with an uncertainty of +- 5 mm [p = 0.95].