Web Based Water Metering with ioBridge

Step 10 IoBridge configuration

ioBridge recently added a free data-logging service to their long list of features. The cool thing about data-logging is that I don't need to have a web page up to record the data. The ioBridge module sends the meter pulse counts to the ioBridge server and they keep track of all the data for me. This means I'm not running a computer 24/7 just to log the data. To configure my setup for logging the number of pulses, I signed into my ioBridge account and set the I/O channel to send data when there was a digital input state change. This way data only gets sent when the contact switch in the water meter is tripped. I then went to the "modules" tab and clicked "add log". On the next screen, I was presented with a few options for data logging. I chose "Digital Input Counting", then I went on to select the module and channel number. For the "States to Count", I picked "On State" and I used 15 minutes for the frequency. The frequency basically sets up how the plot will look. Choosing 15 minutes means the plot will be divided into 15 minute chunks. Finally, I clicked create log and that was it. It took about 15 minutes for my first data point to show up, but I've been collecting data since!

That's it, only 10 steps! Now when I log into my ioBridge account, I can view the past day, week or month of water usage down to the gallon in 15 minute windows. The plots are interactive and allow zooming, panning, etc. ioBridge also gives the option of downloading the data in a CSV file. This feature will come in handy when I need to import the data into Excel and do a little analysis.

And before someone asks... I don't plan on connecting my water meter to twitter. Although I'm sure there is already a Tweet-a-Liter in the works out there somewhere.