Improving the sewer guardian

Project Highlights: Improving the sewer guardian

Residential sewer systems require backflow prevention devices to protect the home from sewage entering into the home. The current technology of backflow preventers poses a problem in that there is no way to determine if the backflow prevention device is operational. Failures of the backflow prevention device can be catastrophic. Rock Bar Construction developed a solution to this problem using electronics to communicate to a remote device alerting the homeowners if the backflow preventer has failed or is having problems. The WAMIC team then worked with Rock Bar to miniaturize the electronics and design a watertight enclosure housing the electronics, which are then retrofitted on existing design backflow preventers. 

A number of design considerations were taken into account while creating a new working prototype for Rock Bar, including improvements to the backflow valve transmitter, custom printed circuit board and PLC programming, and custom enclosure design and 3D print. The final prototype brings Rock Bar Construction one step closer to having a market-ready product.

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