A development of an automatic microcontroller system for Deep Water Culture (DWC)

Hydroponics method of growing plants is using mineral nutrient solution in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solutions only or in an inert medium. One of the hydroponic types was Deep Water Culture (DWC). Deep Water Culture (DWC) is a hydroponic technique that supplies water which contain nutrient direct to the roots of the plant continuously. This technique will ensure the roots of the plant always submerge in water and oxygen. The advantage of DWC system is highly oxygenated uses less fertilizer and low maintenance cost and monitoring time. In this research, pH value is automatically controlled by pH sensor where a sensor reads the value of water with nutrient in the reservoir and maintained to the requirements needed using solution mixer in the valve. Other than that, water in reservoir is continuously maintained through level control which triggers valve to control water flow into or out from the reservoir. The water level monitoring is important to maintain a suitable water level in reservoir. The methodology in this project consists of six stages namely details of study, hardware identification, software identification, hardware and software interfacing, analysis and troubleshooting, data and result collection. From the experimental test, there is a need of 5.64 ml changes in both acidity and alkalinity range in every 0.312 pH and 0.244 pH.