Wondering if other landlords are using any kind of leak detection in their rentals. They can range from the simple audible alarm sensors that sit on the floor behind a washer or water heater to the kind that are plumbed into the main water supply and cut off the water if a large outflow is detected.

I don't have space to plumb one of the auto cutoff types, but I was considering wifi-connected sensors that would send me an alert if there was a leak. Thoughts?

You bet! As a plumber, contractor, landlord and property manager, I find it mandatory to provide a cheap two contact battery operated water sensor in many rentals. They have units that just sit on the floor and other that come with a 15 foot cord so the contacts are put in place and the unit with the speaker/alarm is placed where it can be heard and turned off.

One client had storage in her basement. I wanted to install a drain check valve so sewer water backing up would get cut off. But the owner was afraid that the sewer water would rise up to the 1st floor shower and exit on her bathroom floor. I wanted to put a pressurized clean out cap on the clean out so before water would rise into the bathroom it could exit through the clean out cap. Our solution was to install a water alarm in the basement and have the audio/battery box mounted outside the basement door on the 1st floor. Parents were out of town and the house sitter turned off the alarm not knowing what it was. Basement flooded and destroyed a rare doll collection from the 1900's. On the wall next to the alarm it said in English-

Water alarm for basement.

Robert,

I'm glad you responded to this topic.

Is there a sensor for individual locations that will also turn off the water just for that particular water supply line? (not main line shut off)

If so, what can you tell me about it?

dino,

Dino, I’ve spoke to a local plumbing contractor and he has installed the Moen Flo and like the product. You can connect to WiFi on your phone.

I have many different products designed to cut off the water in case of "Problems".

There is FloodStop for:

Water Heaters, Dishwashers, Washing Machines, Ice Makers, etc.

These can be reset.

There is Wags for water heaters, 1 time use.

There is a product you attach to fixtures like Toilets and adjust how much water can pass before shutting off. So if a toilet is a 1.2 or 1.6 gallons per minutes, I can attach a flow device to cut off if the toilet continues to draw more than 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 or 10 gallons.

Robert,

what is the product that attaches to the toilets. I find when water bills come in high, it's usually a toilet that's causing it.

The product that you can attach to a toilet to limit the water it draws at any one time is called "Water Block". It comes in two parts. The water metering device and the reset device that attaches to it. You also have to install a water shut off valve with a bleeder release to back down the pressure to reset. It has a hose thread connection for the inlet and a hose outlet that you have to drop down to 1/2" with an adapter for the supply line to the toilet tank.

In my large old complex with dozen's of toilets, I installed these devices to stop and cut off the water supply to the toilet after a 6 gallon draw. All of my toilets were 1.6 gallons. So someone could do 3 to 4 rapid flushes before it would cut off. Below are some reasons why it shut off and saved me $250 in water and sewer charges that month:

1) Toilet stopper failed and after the filler valve opened and water flowed slowly until the 6 gallon draw happened, then it cut off.

2) Kids were holding down the flush lever wasting water as they dropped things in the bowl.

3) Ballcock failed and kept on filling the tank.

THim is where I want to report a be a slightly different interest in the use of devices to detect water usage.

One of my apartments is rented where they have washer and dryer connections on the rear porch and consequently use water for that function. However, up until now, I bet no qualitative way of measuring the water usage of the washer/dryer in the rear porch.

I found both a hot and cold water meter devices on Amazon. I hooked up both of those devices to the water flow into the washer machine. From connecting both those devices I now measure how much water is being used, both hot and cold water.

Robert who makes a good quality battery water alarm for under sinks and behind refrigerators for the ice maker water line?

Thanks

I'm buying!

Just got a $2900 water bill where the water was flowing into the basement. Nobody saw the water until we got the FIRST bill.

Metal water line rusted thru just outside the basement wall. Water found a path into the basement. Luckily it was an old building with a drain.