Water Conversation Utilizing Biometrics Prepaid System

Central Colleges of the Philippines

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
History of Water Supply

It is clear the early human civilizations were born near an abundant supply of water such as
springs or rivers. But as settlements grew, water cannot be at reach for all. Thus man adopted wells, and
aqueducts.During the Neolithic, man dug the first permanent water wells, from where vessels couldbe
filled and carried by hand. The size of human settlements was largely dependent on nearly available
water. Devices such as shadoofs, and sakias have been used to lift water to ground level. Throughout
history people have devised systems to make getting and using water more convenient. The Indus Valley
Civilization has early evidence of public water supply and sanitation. The Roman Empire had an amazing
system of large scale elevated aqueducts made of stone, a standard of engineering that was not
surpassed for more than a thousand years, terminated in homes and at public wells andfountains for
people to use. Rome and other nations used lead pipes, often unknowing about lead poisoning. Persian
Qanats have been used for water supply and cooling in the Middle East.London water supply
infrastructure developed over many centuries fromearly mediaeval conduits, through major 19th century
treatment works built in response to cholera threats, to modern large scale reservoirs. The first screwdown water tap waspatented in 1845.Water towers appeared around the late 19th century,Now water
supply is distributed to homes though pipes as provided by the Water Services Company.Where does the
water from the faucet come from?As for Metro Manila, 98% of Metro Manilas water supply comes from
Angat Dam, at San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan The rest of the supply comes from deep wells. The
water collected in Angat Dam is discharged to Ipo Dam, a diversion control dam. From Ipo dam, water
travels 6.4 kilometers to reach the La Mesa Portal. 60% of the supply is allocated to Maynilad, the rest to

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Manila Water. As for Maynilad, water from the portal goes to the treatment plant, where the raw water
undergoes multi-stage process to be produce clean water. From the treatment plant, water flows to
reservoirs and pumping stations. Then water is boosted through Maynilads pipelines, extending over
5000 km from Valenzuela in the North, to Cavite City down South, to provide water to each and every one
of us. We have fresh water supply, thanks to Maynilad Water Services, Inc

The Present Post paid Water Supply System

The present system uses a postpaid system, where water meters are installed on
each household. Workers from the Water Services Company personally go to each
household, no matter how hard and time consuming, just to check the reading on the
water meter, submit the data to the office, and then send the water bill to
customers.Electronic reloadingIn a prepaid mobile phone, topping-up or reloading is
needed to further enjoy the services offered by the operator. There are a lot of options
on how to reload a prepaid mobile phone. The most popular process is through
purchasing a prepaid card but due to security precautions, electronic reloading was
developed. The technology of electronic reloading was first introduced in the Philippines
by Smart Communications branding the service as SmartLoad and considered to be the
world's first electronic reloading service. The service offered micro top-ups meaning
prepaid subscribers can top-up prepaid credits with small denominations. The service
gained popularity and soon after other service providers also used the technology in

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offering

prepaid

top-ups

to

its

subscribers

Foreign Studies and Literature

Solar Power System
Solar energy produces no air pollution, thermal pollution, or water pollution, and
using solar energy does not disrupt the natural environment. The sun shines whether it
is being use the energy or not. Solar energy is a sustainable energy source. Because
the sun shines everywhere, and not just where people are, it can be used in places
where electricity may not be otherwise available or practical. (International Energy
Agency (2011))
The earth receives 174 petawatts (PW) of incoming solar radiation (insulation) at
the upper atmosphere. There is approximately 30% of the energy that are reflected
back to space while the rest are absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses. The
spectrum of solar light at the Earth's surface is mostly spread across the visible and
near-infrared ranges with a small part in the near-ultraviolet. (Smil (1991))
The solar cell works in three steps:
1. Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by semiconducting
materials, such as silicon.
2. Electrons (negatively charged) are knocked loose from their atoms, causing an
electric potential difference. Current starts flowing through the material to cancel the

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potential and this electricity is captured. Due to the special composition of solar cells,
the electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction.
3. An array of solar cells converts solar energy into a usable amount of direct current
(DC) electricity. (Nelson, J., 2003)
As the input voltage from the solar array rises, the charge controller regulates
the charge to the batteries preventing any overcharging. Storage battery charge
continuously coming from solar panels. This is DC current because solar cells produce
unidirectional current flow. Without batteries to store energy you would only have power
when the sun was shining or the generator was running. (Lombardi, 1990)
Finger-Scan Technology
A normal fingerprint pattern is made up of lines and spaces. These lines are
called ridges while the spaces between the ridges are called valleys. It is through the
pattern of these ridges and valleys that a unique fingerprint is matched for verification
and authorization.

These unique fingerprint traits are termed minutiae and

comparisons are made based on these traits. On average, a typical live scan produces
40 minutiae. (SANS Institute 2003)
Biometrics Technology
These biometrics or characteristics are tightly connected to an individual and
cannot be forgotten, shared, stolen or easily hacked.

These characteristics can

uniquely identify a person, replacing or supplementing traditional security methods by

providing two major improvements: personal biometrics cannot be easily stolen and an
individual does not need to memorize passwords or codes. Physiological characteristics
are related to the shape of the body. Examples include, but are not limited to fingerprint,
palm

veins, face

recognition, DNA, palm

print, hand

geometry, iris

recognition, retina and odor/scent. Behavioral characteristics are related to the pattern
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of behavior of a person, including but not limited to typing rhythm, gait, and voice.
Some researchers have coined the term behaviometrics to describe the latter class of
biometrics, (Biometrics of Secure Aunthentication, 2012).
Biometric technologies are being used in countries as diverse as India, South
Africa, Philippines and Spain as the basis for the national identification system,
eliminating the need for multiple identification mechanisms.

Biometrics can help

determine whether applicants are already enrolled under a different identity and thus
can prevent individuals from cheating public sector benefits programs by collecting
benefits under multiple identities. Related, with more accurate data on beneficiaries
and allocation of benefits, government officials may have less room for diverting public
resources (Reinikka and Svensson, 2004; Olken, 2006; Bertrand et al., 2007; Niehaus
and Sukhtankar, 2009; Atanassova et al. 2009).

PIC microcontroller
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a
processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program
memoryin the form o fNOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as
a typically small amount of RAM. Microcontrollers are designed for embedded
applications, in contrast to the microprocessors used in personal computers or other
general purpose applications.Microcontrollers are used in automatically controlled
products and devices, such as automobile engine control systems, implantable medical
devices, remote controls, officemachines, appliances, power tools, toys and other

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embedded systems. By reducing the size and cost compared to a design that uses a
separate microprocessor, memory, and input/output devices, microcontrollers make it
economical to digitally control even more devices and processes
PIC is a family of modified Harvard architecture microcontrollers made by
Microchip Technology, derived from the PIC1650, originally developed by General
Instrument's Microelectronics Division. The name PIC initially referred to Peripheral
Interface Controller.
The manufacturer supplies computer software for development known
as MPLAB, assemblers and C/C++ compilers, and programmer/debugger hardware
under the MPLAB and PICKit series. Third party and some open-source tools are also
available. Some parts have in-circuit programming capability; low-cost development
programmers are available as well has high-production programmers. (MOS DATA,
1976).
How to Conserve Water and Use It Effectively
Metering, The measurement of water use with a meter provides essential data for
charging fees based on actual customer use. Billing customers based on their actual
water use has been found to contribute directly to water conservation. Meters also aid
in detecting leaks throughout a water system.

In 1977, for example, Boston,

Massachusetts, could not account for the use of 50 percent of the water in its municipal
water system. After installing meters, the city identified leaks and undertook a vigorous
leak detection program. Unaccounted-for water dropped to 36 percent after metering
and leak detection programs were started. (Grisham and Fleming, 1989)
Local Studies and Literature

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The Philippines may have been categorized among the third world nations but
people are known to be the most accommodating when it comes to new technologies.
People tend to be updated to electronic gadgets even the youngest one of our age.
People tend to upgrade and invest in our facilities for our own safety and security. So
they come up with a lot of security devices like Biometrics technology.
A top executive of a Philippine-based biometrics technology firm said the creation
of a single entity or agency in charge of all data collection and storage is the best
solution to prevent the possible misuse or abuse of information that pertains to a
citizens unique physiological characteristics. It would be best to have a single
authorized entity for collecting and storing all the information. Having only one source of
data is a way to ensure that input and output of such data is controlled, said Francis
Cruz, general manager of Filmetrics Corporation that specializes in biometrics
solutions.Along with the advancement of science through new inventions and
innovations, the world is undergoing a much dreadful ecological destruction. Together
with the continued warming of the earths atmosphere and the climate that is changing
drastically over the past decades, another major problem of the world that needs to be
addressed is the price increase of the daily needs primarily water. (Newsbytes
Philippines)

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