Flume Smart Home Water Monitor

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Tom the Elder

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Location
Davis CA
My water provided is offering a $25 rebate for the Flume leak monitor. It is supposed to be easy to install by homeowner, no plumbing experience needed. It will send a notification to my phone if it detects a leak. The cost is $90 + $10 shipping, so total cost is $75 after the rebate.

I presume this does not actually connect to the piping and that it does not work nearly as well as those that do - which cost $500+ not including install by a plumber.

Does anyone have experience with these? Are they worthwhile or is the water company pushing them because they get a cut of the profit?
 
I suspect that it has a sensor that sits on the floor and senses water or moisture as the leak happens. They are about $149 on line so the $75 is probably a good deal. As a leak "detector" they probably work quite well but do nothing to stop the leak.

I have heard that some of these devices have motorized valves that are actually installed on the water supply inlet and shut down the water to the house completely if a leak is detected. If that's true I think that would be something worthwhile considering.
 
I purchased a sensor from Spamazon that holds (2) AA batteries, and is placed behind my washer/dryer to alert me when it detects water. It cost me >$20, but if I'm not home, I won't hear the alarm, and I will have wasted money. I also know Costco and Home Depot sells a water sensor monitor, which shuts off your water automatically, and comes with an app for your phone, but they are manually installed into your water line, and costs ~$500. I'd get one but I don't know if they work with front load washers, since they push lots of water in a short time.
I mentioned the front load washer because I purchased the washing machine hoses that shut down if it senses a burst line, but I had to reset the hoses after every use with the front loaders
 
havasu said:
I purchased a sensor from Spamazon ... to alert me when it detects water. It cost me >$20, but if I'm not home, I won't hear the alarm,
Click to expand...
I bought a similar one from Ace for about $35 that also had Wifi connection to an app so my phone could alert me if a leak occurred. However, I could not get thd #%!&@% thing to connect to the app and the audible alarm was so soft that I would not have heard it unless I was in the same room - in which case I could see the leak. This Flume device sounds good but I was hoping to hear from someone who had already used it. Looks like I might be the first on this forum.
 
BlueSkyHigh said:
I suspect that it has a sensor that sits on the floor and senses water or moisture as the leak happens.
Click to expand...
The Flume device is strapped onto the water meter and senses water flow. I was hoping to hear from someone with direct experience.
 
Tom the Elder said:
The Flume device is strapped onto the water meter and senses water flow. I was hoping to hear from someone with direct experience.
Click to expand...

Indeed it is a strap-on!

This thing is amazing actually! The Flume sensor is simply held on by a belt around the back of the meter.
Guardian.jpg
It has a long range 915 MHz radio signal to a base station, is will (should) reach a meter box in the yard. (Not my case, so I cannot vouch for this, but this base station approach is mandatory because 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi signals don't go very far.)

Here is my Flume app after notifying me about "a potential leak"
1678709357044.png
In this case, it turned out to be a toilet valve that only sometimes didn't fully close.
  • The 3rd tall spike from the left is the tank filling, then water trickled at 0.1 gpm until my app told me there was a potential leak.
  • I see similar things from any dripping faucet or loose garden hose connection still pressurized.
The Flume Software has been perfect... never any connection issues or need for technical support!

Looking at the FCC report, it uses a magnetometer sensor to sense changes in the magnetic field from internal rotation inside the water meter.
  • Since meters are brass, the field passes through the housing of the meter. https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/2AOX8-F2200/4757258.pdf
  • Since it is not using it's own mechanical flow sensor, but is snooping on the water company's very reliable and accurate meter, this thing is just reporting what the water company's meter is sensing... and even a verrrry slow drip shows up. Even their "calibration" instructions are really about it learning
  • Since it just straps on, as easy as your own belt, attachment is really easy for the basement locations. (Outdoors of course, excavating all the stuff and bee hives in the meter box is a chore, and I suspect the location of the base station might need a bit of experimentation.)
Everyone should buy this!!!

Jamie
 
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I got one a year or so ago, and when the batteries died in the transmitter they sent me a whole new system. Good customer support anyway!
 
We installed the Flume2 last week and are quite impressed with installation ease and functionality.
The bad news is, it revealed an apparent in/under house leak.
Measures about 0.75 gal/hour with nobody using the water.
Called a Leak Detection outfit, but they could not detect or locate it.
Wondering what to do next ...
 
Last edited:
n6ac said:
We installed the Flume2 last week and are quite impressed with installation ease and functionality.
The bad news is, it revealed an apparent in/under house leak.
Measures about 0.75 gal/hour with nobody using the water.
Called a Leak Detection outfit, but they could not detect or locate it.
Wondering what to do next ...
Click to expand...
Return it and get a refund
 
n6ac said:
We installed the Flume2 last week and are quite impressed with installation ease and functionality.
The bad news is, it revealed an apparent in/under house leak.
Measures about 0.75 gal/hour with nobody using the water.
Called a Leak Detection outfit, but they could not detect or locate it.
Wondering what to do next ...
Click to expand...
Is the little spinner on the meter turning when all the faucets in the house are turned off? That’s a lot of water over the course of a day!
 
wpns said:
Is the little spinner on the meter turning when all the faucets in the house are turned off? That’s a lot of water over the course of a day!
Click to expand...
Yes the OP needs to check that! .75 gpm isn’t a small leak that’s significant flow! Nearly 50% of the max flow rate of many bathroom faucets!!
 
Appears that leak is real, Flume and meter continue to agree, blue triangle thingy moves 120 degrees in 90 seconds today.
Anyone know calibration factor (Badger model 40 meter)?

And, next question – ideas on most reliable under-house (slab!) leak location?
 
n6ac said:
Appears that leak is real, Flume and meter continue to agree, blue triangle thingy moves 120 degrees in 90 seconds today.
Anyone know calibration factor (Badger model 40 meter)?

And, next question – ideas on most reliable under-house (slab!) leak location?
Click to expand...
Turn the cold water valve off at your water heater and check if the leak stops.
 
Thanks anyway. Been there done that with all water facilities in the house. It is after the entry to the house but not any water feature in the house.
 
n6ac said:
Thanks anyway. Been there done that with all water facilities in the house. It is after the entry to the house but not any water feature in the house.
Click to expand...
The cold water valve to the water heater will turn off all your hot water piping. So it’s a quick way to eliminate or confirm a hot leak.
 
Would you believe that the clown who installed the water heater did not install a shutoff on the cold input ...
We shut hot output but no change ...
 
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