Basement Flood – NEVER AGAIN

A few weeks ago I noticed there was no hot water. Hmm… I went down into the basement to see if the water heater breaker had blown. YIKES! There was 6 inches of water on the floor of the basement and water was pouring out of the side of the water heater. I quickly shut off the water main and hooked up a pump to start pumping the water out.

I had been working in the basement a few days before and luckily, I had brought up all my tools the day before. (A number of them had been sitting on the floor.) While the pump was pumping away… I looked for a solution so this won’t happen again. About every two or three years, we get some kind of leak that ends up with water on the floor of the basement.

The solution is pretty cool. I ordered a wi-fi valve that will shut off the main water line coming into the house. After a bit of research, I ended up ordering the DOME Z-wave valve controller. It clamps onto the existing pipe and a lever turns the existing ball valve on and off.

So, with this controller, I can turn on and off my water main with my phone. But… that only works when I know there is a leak. I added one more gadget that senses water. I put the “SmartThings Water Sensor” on the basement floor. When it senses water, it automatically sends a signal to the Dome Water Shut-off and tells is to CLOSE. It also sends me a text saying it is sensing water.

I connected the valve, programmed my SmartThings hub to turn off the water when it sensed it, decided to give it a test. I had a container of water I was going to put the water sensor in… but never needed to use it. When I picked up the sensor, my hand was wet. I immediately sent the signal to turn off the valve. The valve shut off and I received a text before I even had a chance to put the sensor in water. AMAZING!

Here are the techie gizmos. I also linked to the pump I used. It has come in handy a number of times! AND… the SmartThings hub I use to control everything in my house.