--- title: An Automated Water Tank Controller | daily.dev description: A maker in India built an automated water tank controller using an ESP32 microcontroller and an ultrasonic sensor to manage the common problem of manually... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/an-automated-water-tank-controller-etkmpnont twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: An Automated Water Tank Controller | daily.dev og:description: A maker in India built an automated water tank controller using an ESP32 microcontroller and an ultrasonic sensor to manage the common problem of manually... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/an-automated-water-tank-controller-etkmpnont og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/EtKMPnONT.png og:image:alt: An Automated Water Tank Controller og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # An Automated Water Tank Controller **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A maker in India built an automated water tank controller using an ESP32 microcontroller and an ultrasonic sensor to manage the common problem of manually pumping water from underground tanks to rooftop tanks. The system automatically triggers a relay-controlled pump when the water level drops below a set threshold and shuts it off when full, eliminating water waste from overflow. The build was designed to be non-invasive for a rental property by modifying a tank cap to house the electronics, with careful attention to sensor minimum detection thresholds to prevent accidental overflows. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I automate a rooftop water tank pump using an ESP32 and an ultrasonic sensor? An ESP32 microcontroller can be wired to an ultrasonic sensor that measures water level inside a rooftop tank. When the level drops below a set point, the ESP32 triggers a relay to switch on the lift pump, and once the sensor detects the tank is full, it shuts the pump off, avoiding water waste from overflow-based manual monitoring. _daily.dev surfaces practical ESP32 automation builds for makers tackling their own tank or pump projects._ ### How do you install a water level sensor in a rental without making permanent changes to the tank? A fresh replacement cap for the water tank can be modified to mount the electronics and level sensor, leaving the original cap intact and swappable back in later. This approach lets a DIY automation rig, like an ESP32-based pump controller, be installed in a rented property without altering the existing plumbing or tank hardware. _renters exploring non-permanent smart home fixes can find similar builds curated on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Dealing With Intermittent Water Utilities](https://daily.dev/posts/dealing-with-intermittent-water-utilities-hoeqazcdg) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Smart pet gadgets are overpriced, so I built one from a $15 sensor and local automation](https://daily.dev/posts/smart-pet-gadgets-are-overpriced-so-i-built-one-from-a-15-sensor-and-local-automation-qu8mvwqyp) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A Pocket-Sized Digital Fish Tank](https://daily.dev/posts/a-pocket-sized-digital-fish-tank-sursaathw) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [6 smart home devices anyone can build with a cheap ESP32 and an even cheaper sensor](https://daily.dev/posts/6-smart-home-devices-anyone-can-build-with-a-cheap-esp32-and-an-even-cheaper-sensor-alpetqwxv) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#automation](https://daily.dev/tags/automation), [#iot](https://daily.dev/tags/iot) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/an-automated-water-tank-controller-etkmpnont) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"An Automated Water Tank Controller","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/an-automated-water-tank-controller-etkmpnont","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/an-automated-water-tank-controller-etkmpnont"},"datePublished":"2026-08-02T20:15:27.087Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:15:48.278Z","description":"A maker in India built an automated water tank controller using an ESP32 microcontroller and an ultrasonic sensor to manage the common problem of manually...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/6878a28822a2011e5c9e42fd2263b232?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/6878a28822a2011e5c9e42fd2263b232?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hackaday","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hackaday","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JhDfhy70--/f_auto,q_auto/v1767541814/logos/hackaday","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/an-automated-water-tank-controller-etkmpnont","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"automation,iot","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"An Automated Water Tank Controller"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/an-automated-water-tank-controller-etkmpnont#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How can I automate a rooftop water tank pump using an ESP32 and an ultrasonic sensor?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"An ESP32 microcontroller can be wired to an ultrasonic sensor that measures water level inside a rooftop tank. When the level drops below a set point, the ESP32 triggers a relay to switch on the lift pump, and once the sensor detects the tank is full, it shuts the pump off, avoiding water waste from overflow-based manual monitoring. daily.dev surfaces practical ESP32 automation builds for makers tackling their own tank or pump projects."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do you install a water level sensor in a rental without making permanent changes to the tank?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A fresh replacement cap for the water tank can be modified to mount the electronics and level sensor, leaving the original cap intact and swappable back in later. This approach lets a DIY automation rig, like an ESP32-based pump controller, be installed in a rented property without altering the existing plumbing or tank hardware. renters exploring non-permanent smart home fixes can find similar builds curated on daily.dev."}}]} ```