How We Measure Water Usage in an Apartment Building

  • 265 unit Apartment Building

  • IoT sensor from Alert Labs installed on main city meter to capture real time volume and Machine Learning enacted to provide loss / leak rate calculation and gauge how big water loss problem is

  • 1 ½” to 2”  CW Risers monitored with ultrasonic sensors from Keyence

  • Riser sensors installed after shut off as CW line comes of header on top floor

  • Risers sensors track flow of water per sensor and results are presented graphically

  • Riser system provides for Alerts where volume exceeds specific threshold on daily basis

Overview from IoT sensor on main city meter

Riser to Riser Comparison MTD September 2022  

Line Comparative:  L / Hour Average

Line 16 /18 denoted in Gold running at hi

(*) February 2022  All the bathroom toilets of 5/10 of the coldwater riser bath lines were equipped with the motion sensor Guard Dog Valve used to control water flow to the toilet and eliminate water loss associated with running / leaking toilets. The above data from September 2022 illustrates the CW Bath risers without the Guard Dog Valve are using almost 2X the amount of water to their peer group where the Guard Dog Valve was installed on the supply line to the toilet.

Guard Dog Valve

Flow Rate L / Min

  • Line 16/18 (Gold) vs Line 5 (Teal)

  • Line 16 / 18    Avg  17.5 L  / Min, Med 16 L  / min  No GuardDog Valves

  • Line 5   Avg   7.5 L / Min, Med 6

  • Line 5 (Teal) drops to zero several times from midnight to 5 am

  • Line 16 / 18 (gold) never drops below 7 – 8 L / min during this same period

Conclusions

  • You need to measure to manage

  • The more focused the measurement the greater the ability to isolate, identify and fix

  • Starting at the main meter to understand how big the water loss problem is makes sense and is very cost effective

  • Migrating to cold water bath risers next to gauge which lines (and therefore suites) are running high averages when compared to their peers

  • Studying flow rates on high lines provides indication of running toilets

  • Bath riser lines where toilets have GuardDog Valves installed use almost ½ the water those lines where the toilets to do not

If you want to learn more about these systems, their cost and effectiveness please reach out to Bob Langlois
bob.langlois@water-controls.com
Direct:  416-625-7801

Address

2366 Ventura Drive,
Oakville ON, L6L 2H4

Phone

416.625.7801

Email

info@water-controls.com

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