Anyone use or install a Flume2 water monitor recently ...

[Dirk]

Thanks for the clarification Dirk. I admittedly didn't re-read that entire thread to determine what exactly was going on.

--Jeff

No worries. I never used to give any of that a second thought until my water-company-employee buddy explained it all to me. I never even knew what the thingie attached to my sprinkler valve was for!! But it's good to caution folks that are messing with their water service, whether that's to their house or yard or pool, to have at least a rudimentary understanding of what type of valve is best for which use, and how to install them correctly.

 

[randytsuch]

Considering getting a flume2 now, need to get budget approval first. But these days in So Cal, she is very water conscious so I think I can get a go for this one.

Also looks like so cal will give you a $100 rebate on the flume and other water monitoring devices.

EDIT: found this link from a guy who setup Home Assistant and Node Red to get alerts for rates over 10 gpm when irritation is not on. Since I have both running, would be fairly simple for me to implement. Otherwise its in the smart home nerd category.

Randy

 

[randytsuch]

I was given a hesitant, "if you really want it" budget approval. But then I read some amazon reviews. People are complaining it stopped working when you have to change batteries. They redesigned the battery, maybe because of this problem, but I decided to skip for now. I don't want it to break in a year.

In the spring, we completely re-landscaped front and back. Put in lots of rocks, new plants and trees with drip irrigation everywhere. Was a shock getting rid of all the old plants and trees. My May/June water bill was about 1/2 of last year, waiting to see what Jul/Aug looks like

Randy

 

[Ahultin]

I was given a hesitant, "if you really want it" budget approval. But then I read some amazon reviews. People are complaining it stopped working when you have to change batteries. They redesigned the battery, maybe because of this problem, but I decided to skip for now. I don't want it to break in a year.

In the spring, we completely re-landscaped front and back. Put in lots of rocks, new plants and trees with drip irrigation everywhere. Was a shock getting rid of all the old plants and trees. My May/June water bill was about 1/2 of last year, waiting to see what Jul/Aug looks like

Randy

The inside is susceptible to water damage so to change the batteries they tell you to remove it, take it in the house, dry it off and then open it up. Other than eating batteries every @6 months, ours is trucking along well.

 

[Ahultin]

Updating this in the event someone comes across it in a search. I did install a hunter sprinkler valve with no anti siphon after my RPZ backflow and before the "autofill". It is directly connected to one of the spare relays in my intellicenter which is then powered by one of the valve headers on my valve expansion card with a custom jst-xh cable. The relay was added as a feature circuit "autofill" with an egg timer set and scheduled for late night daily. With this it is unlikely anything else would be running simultaneously and i can track the autofill usage thru flume. We are battling a leak with our new build but once that is corrected (hopefully tomorrow) I will play with the length of schedule to garner a worst case evaporation rate.

 

[Dirk]

That all sounds right to me. Great job.

Your backflow preventer is bigger than my backflow preventer!

And I'm also quite envious of your beautiful wiring in your controller. (Yes, wiring can be beautiful!) Gordon Ramsey himself would be #%$@*& at my "electrician" for the spaghetti slop in my ET!



And I like the before and after pressure gauges. I put one on my drip system, to monitor the drip pressure, but I wish I had two on my water main, before and after the regulator.

 

[Ahultin]

That all sounds right to me. Great job.

Your backflow preventer is bigger than my backflow preventer!

And I'm also quite envious of your beautiful wiring in your controller. (Yes, wiring can be beautiful!) Gordon Ramsey himself would be #%$@*& at my "electrician" for the spaghetti slop in my ET!

View attachment 444363

And I like the before and after pressure gauges. I put one on my drip system, to monitor the drip pressure, but I wish I had two on my water main, before and after the regulator.

We built the house in 2006 and my electrician was very ocd, his OCD has made upgrades changes and repairs so much easier that I've made sure that is the standard everything is done to!
The rpz was required by the county for our build which is somewhat insane given that I now have 3, 1 2" immediately after the water meter, a 1" on our irrigation line and now this 3/4" dedicated to the pool autofill. I have the before and after guages on everything. We have stupid high pressure at the street, routinely 150psi + which translates to around 125 psi at the house, uphill from the meter. The pressure regulator at the house went out and I didnt figure it out till it blew 3 toilet valves and our water softener at which point i added guages everywhere for a quick view anytime I'm walking by.

 

[kul]

Since you can find it on Amazon - maybe buy it, try it out, and return it if you feel like it’s not working out for you. I don’t have one, but was considering it as well. A neighbor has it and seems happy with it.

 

[randytsuch]

Just saw that LA DWP is offering for a special price

$49, and then they will give you $25 rebate after you install (I'm guessing it is once it connects to their system?).
So only $24 out of pocket, guess I'll pick one up after all.

EDIT: They charge about $14 for tax and shipping, so around $38 out of pocket, still a deal.

Randy

 

[kul]

Thanks for sharing. I just bought it since LADWP has the discount.

 

[kul]

Received it and set it up yesterday. Set up was easy and the app is pretty simple so . Water leaks can be so damaging so this is another great tool, especially if you aren’t home for an extended time because you can monitor via the app.

 

[randytsuch]

I was a little slower to order, mine arrived on Mon, setup yesterday. It was easy, but app doesn't include all the details for installing like the online guide does. I read the guide this morning, and figured I should move the base station. Its on the first floor now, close to the front door. Meter is in ground, in the sidewalk in front of my house.
I'm going to move to 2nd floor. It will be a little farther, but have better line of sight to the meter. There are some stairs that get in the way, but not as much from the 2nd floor.

It is nice to see how much water you use for different things.

 

[Dirk]

Shoot, now I want one of these! Wish I could get that LADWP discount!

I manage my high-CH city water by filling my pool with water from my softener. But I'd like to know how often my auto-filler is running during my softener's regeneration cycle, when its bypass would be filling my pool with hard water. My CH is up this year and I'm going to have to drain some of it out. I'd also like to keep an eye out for leaks. And by leaks I mean when I fill my little fountain and leave the hose running for hours!! I do that more than I care to admit.

I see cheaper solutions on Amazon, how did you all settle on Flume2?

 

[kul]

It’s been working out really well so far. I just checked it while topping off for evaporation and the amount is accurate. I did have to change the settings because it alerted me that I might have a leak since the water was running for a while. I recommend it, but I would not have paid full price. The random gadgets I’ve acquired over time for pool stuff start to add up quite a bit!

 

[randytsuch]

I see cheaper solutions on Amazon, how did you all settle on Flume2?

The LA DWP discount. But I also looked at reviews, and most reviews were positive. Although there were complaints people had problems after they had to change the battery, so I'll see how that goes in a year or so.
They did change the battery design from what I can tell, hopefully that helped.

I got an email shortly after I had the thing working that I was getting my $25 rebate, didn't have to do anything for that.

 

[Ahultin]

The LA DWP discount. But I also looked at reviews, and most reviews were positive. Although there were complaints people had problems after they had to change the battery, so I'll see how that goes in a year or so.
They did change the battery design from what I can tell, hopefully that helped.

I got an email shortly after I had the thing working that I was getting my $25 rebate, didn't have to do anything for that.

I think the key is to not change the batteries (ie don't open the sealed case) with any water around.
I am on I beleive my third battery pack (first two where the "old style") and have not had an issue.

 

[Dirk]

The LA DWP discount. But I also looked at reviews, and most reviews were positive. Although there were complaints people had problems after they had to change the battery, so I'll see how that goes in a year or so.
They did change the battery design from what I can tell, hopefully that helped.

I got an email shortly after I had the thing working that I was getting my $25 rebate, didn't have to do anything for that.

Right, that would have convinced me, too. They're $200 on Amazon. Other solutions, too, some much more, some much less. I'll call my city and see if they have any offers.

I could solve this another way, and just install a solenoid valve that shuts off my auto-filler supply line for the hours my softener regenerates. That would be an actual solution, instead of spending $200 just to see if I need a solution. But I'd want a solenoid valve that was normally open, and only closed when power was applied. I wouldn't want that solenoid juiced up 22 hours a day.

Edit: Yah, there is such a thing. $30-40. That's probably what I'll do. Ha, don't mind me, just talkin' to myself!

 

[jtpipkin]

bought a flume 2 prior to summer. Saved me once already (toilet flapper) and just knowing how much water I'm using helps tremendously. I'd buy it again tomorrow.

 

[sacredcow]

Must be something in the air....

I recently got home and pulled into the space where I park and noticed that the area where my sump pump drains was very wet (and it hasn't rained here in a pretty long time). I find the area around the catch basin to be wet and think "Oh, what fresh H E double hockey stick is this?" Turned out, the faucet by the pool had been left on and the hose snapped and was running freely for who knows how long. Not looking forward to the bill.

A few weeks prior, I also had a toilet valve that was sticking. Found a YouTube channel that showed how to clean them so you don't have to replace the whole thing.

 

[Dirk]

Some municipalities will give you a break on your water bill for leaks or other mishaps. Take some pics of the wet spot(s) and give them a call. Ya never know. I saved about $150 last winter when my water main separated from the water meter. Of course, the city considers anything my side of the meter to be my problem, but they did give me about 50% off on the water I could prove ran through the break (based on comparing previous month's water bills). My city allows the discount just once every year or two, so you can't abuse it, and you might even want to save it if the extra charge isn't all that much.