Water damage from a leak or flood is one of the more expensive and messier events that can happen inside your house. Given the number of water-using appliances in your home that are attached to water pipes and hoses that are under pressure, the damage can be severe especially if you aren’t home at the time.
Can a water sensor prevent a flood? I decided to take a closer look at modern water sensor technology and here’s what I found.
Water sensors can be installed throughout the home on water-using appliances to alert you to a leak or potential flood. Some smart home apps can remotely turn the water supply off in your home and modern water hoses can detect water surges to cut water supply in case of a burst hose.
With an average of 2% of homeowners filing a water damage claim each year, it’s a worrisome number when you consider how many total claims this amounts to and further when you consider the average claim cost.
Can a water sensor prevent a flood in my house?
Water sensors can alert you to a water leak or potential flood in your home through a monitored alarm company. You may also purchase a more basic system that alerts you to leaking water detected on the floor of your home. You can also buy a more sophisticated water sensor system that will alert you to a leak when you are away from home via a phone app and can shut off a water supply remotely.
Depending on what system you purchase, your chosen water sensor may simply alert you to a leak that requires you to actually be at home to address the leak and shut the water off yourself. More modern, sophisticated smart home-type systems may be able to automatically shut off the water supply when it detects an anomaly to quickly lessen the damage.
The cost of water leaks and floods inside the home
Here’s some food for thought regarding water leaks and drips:
Water leaks that cause damage may be more insidious than is initially obvious. A water line crack as small as 1/8 of an inch can leak as much as 250 gallons of water daily, and a leaky toilet flapper looses around 200 gallons each day. Even a faucet leaking as little as one drip per second can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water each year.
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Even small drips and leaks add up and cost you money.
Consider too that the average insurance claim for water damage is around $10,900 according to a report from Forbes Magazine
. You can see the benefit of anything – such as water sensors – that will quickly alert you to a leak before it becomes a flood. Imagine if a pipe or hose bursts when your home is empty because you’re at work or on vacation or even away for a few hours shopping and come home to a flood? Damage can easily exceed $10,000 and much, much more.
Security company Chubb reports that since 2015, water damage claims costing over $500,000 has doubled and claims of over $1,000,000 have tripled.
Why have water damage claims increased to this degree?
Reasons for increased leaks and floods leading to expensive water damage in homes
Much of the reason for the increase in water damage insurance claims has to do with how modern homes are being built. Homes are now:
- Bigger which means more water pipes that can crack and leak.
- Built with more bathrooms, toilets, baths, bidets, showers and faucets.
- Built with more laundry facilities on upper floors for convenience which means a leak or flood could affect multiple floors below.
- Equipped with more water-using appliances such as fridge ice makers and water dispensers as well as water softeners and reverse osmosis systems.
- Designed with large open concept kitchens and living rooms so leaking water can travel farther and damage more furniture, hardwood, carpets, etc.
Where to install water sensors
While there are some obvious places to install a water sensor, some other places might not be as obvious. While you might choose to have a monitored water sensor on each floor of the house – one in the basement near the water heater or main water line is a good start – the closer you have sensors to the actual water sources themselves, the better.
Consider putting water sensors near your:
- Main water line coming into the home
- Furnace, water heater, water softener or boiler
- Washing machine
- Dishwasher
- Fridge if it has a water connection for an ice maker or water dispenser
- Faucets and taps
- Toilets and bidets
- Baths and showers
- Fish tank
Familiarize yourself with your home water shutoffs. The main water shutoff for the entire home is typically in the basement. Each faucet underneath the sink may have its own water shutoff in the case where a leak is localized. Each toilet also has a water shutoff valve as will the dishwasher, washing machine, water softener and fridge icemaker/water dispenser.
Fix leaks and reduce water consumption at home
You can reduce water consumption at home by both naturally using less water, installing more water efficient appliances and address leaks and drips in the home. Specifically:
- Monitor your water bill. If it suddenly goes up for no explainable reason, start checking each source of water in the home for leaks and drips.
- Fix drips on faucets and leaking toilets. Even drips add up and cost money over time and are often fairly easy to fix.
- Switch to dual flush low flow toilets and watch your water bill plummet overnight as I experienced when I changed three toilets in my house. You can do this yourself if you’re handy or hire a plumber. The cost savings will come quicker than you think the more water your current toilets use.
- Switch to low flow showerheads and faucet aerators. Not only does it reduce water costs it’ll reduce your water heater bill too.
- Consider switching to a tankless water heater which heats water on demand to reduce electricity costs.
- Consider surge protector water hoses for your toilets which sense a sudden burst of water and immediately shut off supply to the toilet assuming that the hose has burst.
Summary
Modern smart homes enable you use WiFi to connect water sensors to your appliances that use water to warn you about a leak or potential flood. Some systems can remotely shut off the water supply, too.
Home security companies also offer water sensor monitoring which will alert you by phone if a water leak is detected near the sensor(s) that they set up. This might be the easiest and quickest way to get a water sensor(s) in your home to get live monitored flood protection.
When you are away for an overnight or longer, it doesn’t take much to shut off the main water supply in your home before you leave. This will prevent against a major water leak or flood regardless of if you have water sensors or not.