TankSense gives advance warning on water tank levels

A home grown innovation is set to help those who reply on tank water for their daily water needs closely monitor the amount of water they have in their tanks so they don’t run out at times of need, especially in a dry summer.

Developed by Davey Water Products in Scoresby, Victoria, TankSense was officially released to the market in October last year following 12 months of development and trials around the country.

It is a compact monitoring system that a user installs next to the water tank which gauges water levels in the tank and speaks to the user via an app on their smart devices.

It combines real time usage data and current tank level stats to predict how many days of supply are left, so users are alerted when supply is running low and water delivery can be arranged before they run out of water.

It also integrates weather data from the Bureau of Meteorology so tank owners can hold off on ordering if rain is forecast, thus saving them some coin.

Davey’s Innovation Mission Leader, Chris Knapp, said the system was designed in direct response to feedback from tank users, who identified uncertainty around remaining supply as one of their biggest challenges.

“Even when tanks include a visual gauge to show how much water is left, it can be hard for owners to predict their usage rates, so it’s still hard for them to know when they need to order water, and when they can afford to wait a little longer,” Knapp said.

“TankSense learns how you use water so it can offer a more accurate estimate on how long the remaining water will last.

“It gives a lot of peace of mind to tank users and also allows them more control. It’s very frustrating for people when they order a delivery and then have to worry if the water will run out before it arrives, or they get a delivery only for it to bucket down with rain a few days later.”

TankSense can be used with above ground steel or poly tanks from 1000 to 100,000-litre capacities or 20m high, whichever is the greater.

“We launched TankSense at the Irrigation Expo in Sydney in June 2018 and the response was excellent, so we knew it was going to be well received, and we’ve had lots of positive feedback since we launched to market in October,” Knapp said.