Remotely monitor water meters for leaks

General Landlording & Rental Properties
10yFollow

Remotely monitor water meters for leaks

Corey G.
Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 105 posts · 26 votes

Hello everyone. I've been reading on biggerpockets for a while but have rarely posted anything before. Thought I would finally ask for some advice. If you can help, I would appreciate it. 

First off, I have some multiplexes I own in different areas of the city and none of them have been metered separately for water so I pay it and just charge a little more for rent. This works well until there is a leak at the property and then I have a huge water bill. I'm trying to get my tenants to be a little more observant and have considered charging them if they don't catch leaks soon enough. The problem is the water usage is for 4 units and determining how much to charge a tenant for an overage is tricky. What if there were multiple leaks? So ideally, I would like to catch the leaks before they become a problem. It looks like there are water meters I could install after the city meter which do pulse output but I don't know how that works or if it will do remote monitoring. I'm pretty sure the city uses RF signals to read the meters. Is there a device I can buy that would read the meters once or twice a day and have that sent to me so I can monitor it. Has anyone found a good solution to remotely monitor water consumption? 

0Reply
84 views

Most Popular Reply

James DeRoest
Investor · Century, FL · Member since 2015 · 950 posts · 603 votes
10y

The way to find a water leak within the units is to look for a large patch of water. It's usually wet.

The only thing you have to worry about are toilets that run continuously. And even then, they don't use huge amounts of water. If a toilet runs at full pressure, the tenant is going to call you sooner than later from the sheer racket it's making.

If you are purely looking for leaks, you will spend significant sums of money to save yourself very little money in the long run. 

But going back to the "wet patch", for a leak to actually hurt financially, you are looking at 10s of thousands of gallons. Even the most ardent slum tenant will call you after the first 1000 gallons rips through their home.

1Reply
See this reply in the discussion

18 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Gerald Demers
    Note Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2016 · 135 posts · 79 votes
    10y

    Hello @Corey G.  So, you have enough leaks happening often enough that you are considering adding a monitoring solution that you can monitor once or twice a day?  

    Maybe you can define "a leak" for us.  Are you talking about a broken pipe or leaks into a fixture (for example, a toilet always running or a steady drip into the tub)?  But fixture leaks don't suddenly create a huge water leak.  

    What is going on with your properties that these "leaks" are happening so often, you need a monitoring solution.  The monitoring sounds is usually a means to isolate where the problem is but it seems that is not your purpose.   

    Gerald Demers

    0Reply
  • Corey G.
    OP
    Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 105 posts · 26 votes
    10y

    Typically the leaks have been toilets which will constantly run and use water slowly. By the time I find out about it however, it usually is a big expense for such an easy fix. I did have an underground pipe burst once, as well as a leaking shut off valve another time, but that doesn't seem to be typical. I would just like to catch the leaks early so that if my tenant fails to notify me or doesn't notice, I don't have to find out on my water bill at the end of the month. 30 days of a constantly running toilet adds up. Not knowing how much water each tenant uses leaves me with a problem of how much to charge the tenant for the leak as well. Now once the leak is fixed, I would like to monitor for a few days to ensure the problem has been resolved and not have to find out on my next water bill 30 days later that the leak is ongoing. I figure a one time expense to prevent major water bills in the future might be in my best interest as long as it doesn't cost too much. 

    2Reply
  • Corey G.
    OP
    Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 105 posts · 26 votes
    10y

    Sorry, I reread my original post and I might have worded things incorrectly. Essentially I just want to remotely monitor the main water meter to detect when I have a leak in the building (so that I can fix it right away) and not have to find out on my bill at the end of the month. I hope that clears up any confusion.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    10y

    Google, my friend.  Here's a search I did:

    https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-insta...

    This is one of the links in the search, that looks like what you want:

    http://www.watersignal.com/

    I guess you'd have to figure out if this was cheaper than just sub-metering the units and worth the hassle.

    0Reply
  • Corey G.
    OP
    Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 105 posts · 26 votes
    10y

    I did see that but I was hoping for a device (perhaps a secondary water meter) that would send me the water usage through wifi or something. More like a one time installation as opposed to a company monitoring service. I don't know what it costs but it can't be cheap and would likely defeat the purpose. I'd rather stay away from sub-metering the units as some of my properties have 4 tenants and 1 laundry. I have found a lot of articles on smart water meters being installed by some city water companies but not much on wifi enabled water meters for consumer purchase. 

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    10y

    Well, you could always put the laundry on a separate meter.  As to the other stuff, I can't help.  Maybe a nanny cam of some sort on the water meter box?  

    I saw several other links on the Google search that might be worth reading, if nobody else here has your answer.

    0Reply
  • Corey G.
    OP
    Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 105 posts · 26 votes
    10y

    I've been searching for quite a while today and the only thing that looks promising is called water hero and its a kickstarter campaign that was funded but the product is still under development. A couple of people created what they needed using a water meter with a pulse output and some small circuitry that somehow connects online. Seems very technical and complicated. A wifi camera could work I suppose. I'd just have to remember to check it everyday and somehow ensure that the dirt doesn't block the camera from reading the meter. 

    0Reply
  • Lorin K.
    Tacoma, WA · Member since 2015 · 141 posts · 29 votes
    10y

    What you are talking about is a flow meter. Taking its output and sending it to a embeded computer that also has a web server on it is what you are looking for. I have such a embeded computer. It is very small but I need to code it then built the web interface to show its flow rates. Would anyone buy it in the real world? not really. Take your water meter rates, and see if the water spikes if its monitored electronically. Is no, just monitor it montly and if you see a unusual spike, give the tenant a call. 

    0Reply
  • James DeRoest
    Investor · Century, FL · Member since 2015 · 950 posts · 603 votes
    10y

    The way to find a water leak within the units is to look for a large patch of water. It's usually wet.

    The only thing you have to worry about are toilets that run continuously. And even then, they don't use huge amounts of water. If a toilet runs at full pressure, the tenant is going to call you sooner than later from the sheer racket it's making.

    If you are purely looking for leaks, you will spend significant sums of money to save yourself very little money in the long run. 

    But going back to the "wet patch", for a leak to actually hurt financially, you are looking at 10s of thousands of gallons. Even the most ardent slum tenant will call you after the first 1000 gallons rips through their home.

    1Reply
  • Corey G.
    OP
    Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 105 posts · 26 votes
    10y

    James, finding the water leak isn't the issue, catching it early is the issue. Last time I had a toilet leak, it cost me at least 200 dollars. Which in the long scheme of things isn't a whole lot but if I could install a device for say 200 dollars, that would notify me of a leak when its happening, I would never have a big water bill again. I'm all about reducing expenses and water leaks are unnecessary expenses that I don't get informed about for a month. I'm just asking for early detection. Not having to wait a whole month to find out my water is leaking. I don't think that is unreasonable. 

    0Reply
  • Amy A.
    Portland, ME · Member since 2012 · 616 posts · 550 votes
    9y

    I just had about $700 in excess water charges due to running toilets!  I've also had major leaks that luckily have just flooded basements and not caused too much damage.  I've also been searching for a solution and Water Hero looks the  most promising, but it's still in development.  It can automatically shut off the water if there's a burst pipe.  To find smaller leaks it monitors water usage and sends it to your smart phone.  I don't know why there aren't any big investment companies involved with it.  If insurance companies would give a discount for having it, everybody would buy it.   Of course, one would need to somehow get wifi for each building.  It doesn't seem to be designed for landlords.

    There are many products that detect dampness and alert you.  We also use flood-stop supply hoses for our washing machines.

    Are there any other products out there?  Anybody?  

    0Reply
  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    9y

    We have a well in a multi and bad leaks can deplete the well. I was having some well work done and had a single inline water meter installed it added about $200 to the work. My partner was skeptical but when there is a leak the wheel spins constantly and we send a tenant note asking who has a leak.  I take a picture to calculate water usage for the building/occupant. I suppose you could put a camera on something like this and see the wheel spinning real-time.   Low tech but gets the job done. There must be industrial flow meters but I expect they are expensive. Don't know if you can get  a water meter that is not inline.

    0Reply
  • Byron Bohlsen
    Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2015 · 173 posts · 53 votes
    9y

    Are these old toilets? - Replace the flushing mechanism about 20 bucks or replace the toilet with a water efficient one if holding long term. 

    0Reply
  • Eric E.
    Residential Investor · Allentown, PA · Member since 2012 · 95 posts · 29 votes
    7y

    Hey @Corey G.   did you ever find a solution?  I just had a leaky toilet at a duplex with only one meter, and my bill is $1500 !!          Hooking up a sub meter should be easy, but i don't want to have to go there every month to read the meter!   

    0Reply
  • Arthur C.
    Investor · Carmel, IN · Member since 2015 · 5 posts · 1 vote
    7y

    Flo by Moen, even detects a dripping faucet. Just ordered one, we will see. https://meetflo.com/

    1Reply
  • Corey G.
    OP
    Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 105 posts · 26 votes
    7y
    Thanks Arthur, That looks like it could work as long as you have wifi at all your properties
    0Reply
  • Len P.
    Westchester, NY · Member since 2019 · 25 posts · 10 votes
    7y

    Hi, I've had a chance to work in the connected water field for a couple years, although not directly in leak detection. There are several companies that have products that may be interesting for what you are looking for. I have not actually used or tested any myself but have read through online reviews and articles. These are some I've seen.

    Flo by Moen - Moen led a $28M investment in Flo in January. Flo has leak detection and a shutoff valve in a unit that you place on the inline pipe coming into the house.

    LeakSmart - owned by Waxman. LeakSmart has leak detectors that you put on the floor around potential leak spots such as the washing machine or boiler. They connect to a Wifi hub, and LeakSmart also has a shutoff valve that you connect to the inline pipe and also integrates with the Wifi hub.

    Phyn - owned by Belkin and Uponor. Similar to Flow, has a single system that you install on the inline pipe for leak detection and automatic shut off.

    Streamlabs - has 2 products; one is an inline leak detector and the other is an inline leak detector + shutoff valve

    Flume - this is a really unique product. You strap Flume on your existing water meter and it then monitors the water usage to detect leaks. The device connects to a Wifi hub. There is no shutoff option.

    All of the leak detection + shutoff valve systems will cost $500+ and may require a subscription. They'll also require a plumber for installation. Flume is around $200 and is DYI, although it doesn't have a shutoff option.

    One question for you all - all of these systems require a connection to Wifi. How would you connect the leak detector to Wifi in a rental? Would you setup your own Wifi network or would you connect it to a tenant's Wifi?

    Thanks,

    Len

    0Reply
  • Charles Fayal
    Member since 2021 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    2y

    Another option is NOWi sensors

    They have toilet monitors, building monitors (similar to Water Signal), and other kinds of sensors.

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free