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Copyright © 2003 Epeteknik Sdn Bhd

FLOODALERT FLOOS WARNING SIREN SYSTEM

General

Low areas near the river mainly suffer from floods which usually result from rivers water overflow due to heavy storms dropping large amounts of rain at the upstream. Some of the urban areas also affected by flash floods, which result from intense storms dropping within a brief period in the same area. A warning system shall be implement in these affected areas so that public could save their property and evacuate before the situation becomes worst. One of the most effective methods of providing flood warnings to the public by implementing a Remote Flood Warning Siren System (RFWSS).

Generally, there are two type of Flood Warning Siren System (FWSS), i.e. Stand Alone Flood Warning Siren (SAFWS) and Remote Flood Warning Siren (RFWS) with communication capability. The differences between the two is that the SAFWS is only used for localizes public warning only but the RFWS is equipped with communication capability to inform the client's personal beside giving warning to the public. The communication media for RFWS can be SMS/GSM, PSTN line, Satellite or VHF Radio.

RFWSS Operations

A RFWSS is normally designed to provide two levels of warnings: Alert level and danger level which is pre-determined (Note: expandable to provide three levels warning: alert, warning and danger level). When the river level reaches the first level called alert level, the RFWSS shall activate a siren sound which is waiving and lasting between 1 to 15 minutes (the duration can be easily set by turning a rotary switch inside the siren driver board). This siren sound pattern shall alerts residents in the area of an impending flood.

If the river level continues to rise and reaches the next level (danger level), the siren will be activated again with a different tone. This siren sound is of higher tone and waived faster compared with the first siren sound to show the differences and to indicate that the flood has reached the Danger Level. Upon hearing the danger siren sound, the public shall evacuated
immediately from the flooding area.

The RFWSS normally operate in sleep mode to reduce power consumption. Once any of the water level sensors is active due to river level raises, the siren driver board's controller will be awakened and start to make sound.

With a communication controller and GSM MODEM installed as part of the RFWSS, the system can send a SMS to the RFWSS Center Monitoring System (CMS) as well as a number of JPS officers to inform of the flood whenever the river level reaches alert level or danger level. Up to a maximum of 20 numbers of officer's mobile phone numbers can be stored in the GSM MODEM SIM card.

For RFWSS location without GSM network, AceS Mobile Satellite Phone is used to inform the officer by making a dial-out call to the Centre Monitoring Station (CMS) to inform of the alarm so that the CMS can broadcast this alarm to JPS officers. The RFWS can also dial directly to JPS officers mobile phone. By looking at the incoming-call phone number, the officer shall immediately know which RFWS is activated. The AceS Satellite System is described separately in different section.

FloodAlert RFWSS Configuration

The FloodAlert Remote Flood Warning Siren System (RFWSS) is available in the following configuration modes:

Stand Alone Flood Warning Siren (SAFWS)
Remote Flood Warning Siren (RFWS) with Short Messaging System (SMS) warning
Remote Flood Warning Siren (RFWS) with Asia Cellular Satellite System warning
Remote Flood Warning Siren (RFWS) with VHF Radio Communication Equipment
Remote Flood Warning Siren (RFWS) with PSTN Communication Equipment
Remote Flood Warning Siren (RFWS) Center Monitoring System (CMS)

System Configuration For FloodAlert RFWSS With SMS Reporting

Client authorized personnel shall be able to know if there is any Flood Waning Sirens activated through their handphone. A FloodAlert Center Monitoring System (CMS) is also to give immediate warning to the Flood Control Center personnel or to remotely activate the RFWSS.

The diagram above shows all the possibilities of communication media the FloodAlert System uses to communicate with the Siren Control – Command Centre. Please note that the speakers and amplifier are arranged in pair to establish a hot backup configuration. If one set of speaker or amplifier is faulty, another set is still in operation.

FloodAlert RFWSS

A new FloodAlert Remote Flood Warning Siren System (RFWSS) is constructed from the
following components:

2 nos of 200W siren horn separated 180 degree apart
1 no of 200W siren amplifier (two 100W channels operate in parallel for redundancy)
2 nos of float switches type water level sensors in float-well (alert and danger)
1 no of siren pole with air rod on top
1 no weatherproof siren controller housing
1 no of 12V/60AH maintenance free battery
1 no of 12V/46W solar panel
1 no of ST2003 communication controller
1 no of communication equipment (GSM MODEM or AceS Cellular phone)

The FloodAlert System uses special designed high-power siren horn projector in pair. In a smallest configuration, two numbers of siren horn is separated 180° with the use of IP65 wide-angle horn projector each with 200W horns driver. The siren horn is specially designed for maximum output power and sound projection, so it could achieve larger area coverage and long distance sound penetration.

These high-power siren horn provides excellent voice and tone reproduction and is ideal for overcoming high levels of industrial noise and traffic noise in the city. Design flexibility allows the user to combine up to four siren horn with each horn cover have a 90° angle of dispersion, accommodating specific sound output patterns.

The FloodAlert System uses bobbin siren driver which is specially designed for electric siren and alarm installation internal magnetic structure is made of high temperature-resisting rareearth alloy internal magnet steel. Beautiful surface, clear sound, water-proof, rot-resisting and good seal is it's character.

Each siren horn is installed with two number of siren driver which uses it's standard 1-3/8" coupling to screw into the horn projector body. Since each horn projector can be installed with maximum 4 number of siren drivers, two more extra coupling is available for installation with two extra siren drivers where necessary.

Siren Amplifier

The FloodAlert Siren Amplifier a siren amplifier / tone generator with the latest solid-state components gives the most efficient and economical siren available. Integrated circuits and silicon output transistors give the amplifier exceptional performance and durability under a wide range of environmental conditions.

The FloodAlert Siren Amplifier have the following general features:

Settable Siren Lasting duration from 1 minutes to 15 minutes using rotary switch
Factory adjustable siren sound waiving speed and siren tone according to customer
requirement
Sound generation suing micro-controller
Two channel working in parallel to provide maximum output with hot backup
redundancy design
Accept Alert and Danger Level float switch Input (with MOV surge protection)
Expandable to include Warning Level when necessary
Able to provide interface to telemetry system through ST2003 communication controller

Water Level Sensor

The float switches is constructed from submersible IP68 rating float switches mounted on PVC pipe with fixed separation between Alert Level and Danger Level. This assembly is further protected inside a 4 inches diameters G.I. pipe secured to the river bank with concrete pilling. The G.I. pipe shall have holes at the side so that water can enter the pipe but prevent rubbish or floating object from damaging the float switches. The diameter of this G.I. pipe shall be large enough and be opened at the bottom so that sludge and mud shall not retain in the pipe. The siren amplifier with a separated spare input channel allow expanded to include Warning Level if necessary.

Siren Pole and Enclosure

The siren pole for the FloodAlert RFWSS is constructed from a 20 feet length Class-C G.I. Pipe (3 inches diameters) buried 4 feet underground on a concrete platform. It shall be strong enough to hold the siren horn in place on top of the pole. The siren shall be installed at such a height to allow for larger sound coverage area.

An air rod shall be installed on the top most of the siren pole in order to protect the RFWSS from strike by lightning. The air rod and siren pole shall be properly grounded through a copper down conductor to an earthing system with 20 ohms resistance or less.

All RFWSS main components is enclosure in a pole-mounting weatherproof enclosure designed specially for mounting on the siren pole itself. The height of the enclosure mounting must be higher then the maximum flood level.

The weatherproof enclosure shall enclose all necessary equipment inclusive of Siren amplifier, Solar Charge Controller, Maintenance Free Batteries, Communication controller, Communication Equipment, etc.

The weatherproof enclosure shall have hinged and lockable front doors for easy access. All components, wiring and terminal blocks shall be accessible from the front of cabinet. The enclosure shall of IP65 standard and designed to operate in an ambient temperature range of 10-60 degrees C and ambient humidity range of 10-95% RH (non-condensing). All cable in the cabinet shall be neatly covered inside cable trunking or cable management conduit.

Communication Controller

In order for the FloodAlert RFWSS to inform the in-charge officers on any flood-events, the RFWSS shall be equipped with communication capability. A communication controller and a communication equipment will allow the RFWSS to perform this function.

The communication equipment to be included in the system shall be GSM MODEM for areas with GSM network and Asia Cellular Satellite System (AceS) mobile phone for areas without GSM access.

SMS Reporting Using GSM Network

The communication protocol which utilize Short Messaging System (SMS) is programmed into the firmware of the communication controller. A SMS software driver is coded in the controller which define how the controller shall send SMS through the GSM MODEM to the officer or operator's mobile phone as well as Center Monitoring System (CMS) if installed.

With GSM communication, the communication controller shall support three (3) types of communication modes as follows:

RFWSS automatic report flood alarm by sending SMS directly to officers' mobile phone
RFWSS reply latest FWSS status by reply in SMS format upon request from mobile
RFWSS automatic report flood alarm by sending SMS to a Center Monitoring System
RFWSS Center Monitoring System (CMS) automatic report flood alarm by sending SMS to officers' mobile phone upon receive alarm from RFWSS.

GSM Modem

In order for the RFWSS to communicate with Short Messaging System (SMS), a GSM MODEM shall be connected to the communication controller for the RFWSS.

The GSM MODEM or Cellular Engine model TC35 is the fast plug and play solution from Siemens. Standard industrial interfaces and an integrated SIM card reader make it the ideal dualband GSM terminal for universal use in voice/data communication. The wide performance spectrum and the robust case enable us to quickly develop new applications for industrial fields such as telemetry.