Water supply management app wins at Smart SWEEP Awards

MANILA, Philippines - Every day the town of Calape in Bohol loses 25 cubic meters of water due to leakage in the municipal pipe system. Using wireless technology, a group of students led by a resident, Eldwin Shieldon Ytac, developed a solution to the problem — and won first prize, to boot, in Smart’s SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards.

The fifth-year electronics and communications engineering (ECE) students from Holy Name University in Tagbilaran City designed a “Water Supply Management Through Wireless Technology.”

It monitors the condition of water piping and detects leakage. Ytac’s teammates are Gerald June Dagondon, Joseph Tabaranza, Wilmer Malanog, Johnry Daquipil, and Gina Palomares.

The group learned about Calape’s water problem from Vice Mayor Francisco Co and the Sangguniang Bayan.

“We believe it was essential to identify a community and address a real problem,” said engineer Justiniano Villocido, the team’s teacher-mentor.

The competition is held annually as part of the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) of the country’s leading wireless telecommunications company, under its corporate social responsibility program Kabalikat.

The theme of this year’s competition was “Empowering Communities through Wireless Technologies.”

The champion team’s wireless technology solution uses sensors attached to the main pipelines that measure and monitor the pressure of water flow. 

The data, including the possible location of a leakage as displayed in a Google Map of Calape’s pipe network, are sent to a receiver (mobile phone) connected to the control panel (computer) where an operator can view the information.

“It is also able to automatically send water advisory to consumers through SMS,” said Dagondon.

First runner-up is Ateneo de Davao University’s “Fish Density Detection System” for the fishermen of Lianga Bay, a small-scale fishing community in Surigao del Sur, hometown of teacher-mentor Randell Espina.

A dialogue with the Barobo Fisherfolk and Fisher Vessel Operators Association got them on track.

Lianga Bay fishermen usually take their boats out to sea at night for a better catch.

With the use of technology, fifth-year ECE students Velvet Rose Oliva, Jade Kenneth Mausisa, and Arvyn Sumaoy devised a system that can detect the presence and density of fish from a base station on land. 

“This will save the fisherfolk time, fuel, and food,” said Oliva, the team leader.

The Fish Density Detection System is equipped with a lighting device to attract fish and an ultra-sonic sensor, which detects vibration caused by fish within a defined range. The collected vibration is then picked up by the wireless transmitter and sent to the wireless receiver connected to a computer or base station on land.  

The received data will be processed and analyzed to determine the current density of fish in the area. With the stored and processed data, a registered member of the fisherfolk association can be informed or can inquire through SMS about the density of fish at the catching point.

For second runner-up Ateneo de Manila University, the beneficiary of their “Smart Bantay Barangay” is Barangay Loyola Heights. 

A website provides residents with the latest news, priority issues, and updates on actions/decisions by barangay authorities, and also enables them to join forum discussions and post queries and suggestions.

Using their mobile phones, they can capture an image, video or just plain SMS and send to the website URL. The system, which promotes an interactive wireless community, also allows subscribers to request updates on current issues or replies to their posts via SMS.

“Smart Bantay Barangay is up and running. We have so far 40 registered users. Feedback is positive,” shared Ace John Dimasuhid, the team leader.

The team members are Sherico Paulo de la Cruz, Jan Michael Abuzo, Cuthbert Allan Guerrero, and teacher-mentor Rod Coronel. They coordinated with barangay chairman Cesar Marquez.

The top three winning teams were awarded cash prizes and equivalent grants for their schools — P500,000 first prize to Holy Name University; P300,000 second prize to Ateneo de Davao; and P150,000 third prize to Ateneo de Manila.

This year’s judging was chaired by Sixto Roxas, chairman of the Maximo T. Kalaw Institute for Sustainable Development. 

Roxas urged Smart to continue encouraging schools to become ever more conscious of their strategic roles in developing local communities. 

“In order to build the world economy, you have to have a world that is a community of sustainable and self-reliant local communities,” he said.

This was seconded by Arlene Romasanta, senior science research specialist at the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology, who sat in the panel of judges both in the elimination and final rounds.

“Empowering citizens will make them feel important that they are part of the development of their community. This will later on have an impact on the country as a whole,” she said.

Completing the board of judges were Jason Tan of PSFK.com, a New York-based blog covering international trends in marketing, design and technology, and Smart’s Jigs Suelto, senior manager of network services assurance for Metro Manila NPSD, and Edmund Joson, strategic business development manager.

In another event, Wilmir Nicanor, a fifth-year ECE student of Bulacan State University, bested other contestants from SWEEP partner schools to become this year’s PalaECEpan champ. He received P40,000 in cash, a trophy and a cellular phone.

The quiz bee was jointly hosted by Smart and the Institute of Electronic Engineers of the Philippines.