About a year ago I installed a Water Mains Shut Off system in my home. I blogged about it at the time and here is a link to the final Blog Post where I included a video:
Over the course of the year I have had two times where the system shut off due to a splash of water in the laundry room getting to the sensor. Both of these times the alarm and shut off was trivial since there wasn't really a leak and we were right there when it happened.
Today we were finally thankful for the shut off system. The other day my wife brought home a couple of throw rugs that a friend had given her. Since they were originally expensive she decided to hand wash them in the laundry tub. She began by putting them in the tub with some Woolite and turned on the water. Since the tub was taking a while to fill she decided to check on something in the kitchen and, as this scenario usually goes, she got busy and forgot about the running water.
I was in my office when she suddenly came running to say that there was a flood in the laundry room and my alarm was sounding in the basement.
This was the scene of the potential disaster. When I took this picture the laundry sink had already been drained and the wet dry vacuum had been used but you can still see the sensor on the floor under the washing machine hookup. After I vacuumed up the spilled water I was please to find there was only about 2 liters that actually made it to the floor before the sensor tripped the main water shut off in the house. If you want to see how the shut off itself works you can use the link above to go back and watch my final demo video.
When we finished the project a year ago there was some question in all of our minds if my homemade sensors would stand up or if they would pull moisture from the air and give false triggers. So far there has been no sign of this happening. All three triggers have been for cause and the one today would have resulted in the dumping of considerable water on the floor had the sensor not shut down the main water valve so quickly.
John
Top Comments