Miracle as student invents flood detecton system

• It alerts residents of an impending flood, its intensity, and provides room for evacuation.
• Each year, scores of families are rendered homeless by floods in several parts of the country, such as Budalangi in Busia County. However, an invention by a computer science student at Zetech University might provide a solution.

Antony Karimi Muthungu has invented a flooding system that will alert residents of an impending flood and its intensity, providing room for evacuation to avert the disaster.

“The system will assess the probability of flooding once rains start and when the water levels increase it will alert an emergency centre,” says Muthungu.

The gadget, he says, has a database that holds the residents’ phone numbers as well as the nearest police station contacts. Once a case of flooding is detected, it will go through the phone numbers and send an SMS alerting residents to evacuate.

But the innovation is not limited to a flood detection unit alone. When fixed in main water supply pipes, it can alert residents whenever they have water running in the pipes.

This feature can be especially handy in towns that have an erratic water supply. “Sometimes, people forget to pay for their water bills and the the supply is disconnected. This gadget, if connected to the main water supply pipes, sends SMS alerts to residents anytime they have water running in their taps,” he says.

Meter readers could also potentially have their work of moving from premises to premises reduced by installing the electronic water meter, which automatically counts the consumption of water by a client and sends the readings to the service provider.

“It also has an electronic valve, which locks the pipe if one has not paid for the service. Once you pay for the water, the pipe will open itself,” says Muthungu.

Muthungu is also the man behind LUAM Black Spot Tracer, which if fixed to a vehicle, will alert motorists whenever they approach a black spot on the road.