Protection (control) system against water leakage: how it works and how to choose

Plumbing emergencies are a nightmare for any homeowner. In a house or in an apartment, it is equally unpleasant and costly. Only in the case of an apartment is the need for conversations with neighbors below and the cost of eliminating their losses added. But here the situation is better in the sense that even if you are not at home, the neighbors from below will achieve the shutdown of the water as soon as they notice signs of a flood. In the case of a private house, equipment threatening leaks usually stands in little-visited places - in basements, specially equipped pits. While the owner decides to visit the equipment, he can come to the pool. To avoid such situations, protection against water leaks is needed. Although this equipment is not cheap, it is becoming more and more popular. The cost of purchasing and installing it is several times less than the losses that a flood can bring.

To avoid such a situation and put protection against water leaks

What is anti-flood and how does protection against water leaks work?

The anti-flood system consists of several elements: water availability sensors, electrically controlled taps or valves, and a control unit. Water presence control sensors are placed in places of the most probable leaks. Electric cranes are placed on risers with water, in key places of the water supply and heating systems - in order to minimize the amount of spilled water in the event of an accident. Crane drives and sensors are connected to the control and management unit (controller). It processes signals from sensors and, in case of an alarm signal, supplies power to the taps. Those are triggered by blocking the flow of water / heat carrier. This is, in a nutshell, how water leakage protection works.

Protection against water leakage consists of three components: water presence sensors, electric taps and a controller that controls all this

These systems are used for water supply - hot and cold, and for heating. After all, an accident in the heating system is probably even worse than in the water supply system - hotter water causes more damage, and can also cause serious burns. In general, for flood protection to be effective, you need to think carefully about the installation locations of sensors and taps.

Where to place sensors

Since the protection against water leaks is designed to protect against floods, sensors should be placed in all places where the appearance of water is most likely. It often happens that the system triggered with a delay precisely because of the wrong location of the sensors. Until the water reached the sensor, a lot of it poured out. Based on the experience of the owners, the following locations can be recommended for installing water leakage sensors:

• Under each flexible hose. It is here that emergencies most often arise.
• Under household appliances that use water during operation: dishwasher, washing machine. Please note: you need to slip the sensor under the device. Those. install not next to it, but under it.
• The catchment points are the lowest points where water will enter first.
  

  Wired and wireless sensors - the basis of the anti-flood system

• Under the boiler, heating boiler, next to the pumping station, in the pit where the pump is installed.
• Under the radiator, heated towel rail.
• Near (under) a bath, shower, sink, toilet.

When installing water leakage sensors, try to position them so that water hits them first. For example, to control the faucet in the kitchen, the sensor should not be placed under the cabinet, but in the cabinet - under the siphon or somewhere in the area. If something happens to the piping to the tap, the water will first be in the cabinet and only then will it flow under it.

If you need to monitor leaks in household appliances - washing machines, dishwashers - place the sensors under the appliances. Not near, but directly near the connection of the drain hose.

Where to install motorized taps / valves

Installation of cranes is not easy. The specific installation locations depend on the system design. If it is a small apartment with one or two risers - cold and hot water - everything is simple. We overlap the bends and that's it. In more complex systems, you have to think over the place of installation of electric cranes.

The location of the shut-off valves depends on the design of the system

In apartments

If the water supply is centralized, the taps of the system from leaks are placed at the entrance to the apartment / house. It is much better if the taps are located before the meter and filter. But with such an arrangement, operational services may disagree. They usually require the electric crane to be positioned after the meter. In this case, in the event of a leak, the junction of the meter and filter remains under pressure at all times. It will be impossible to eliminate the leak at these points. You can insist on your own, but you need to prove your point of view.

Advice! Before installing the leakage protection system, contact your management company and find out if there will be problems with sealing the meters if electrically driven taps are installed in front of them.

In some layouts, the apartment may have four risers - two cold and two warm water. In this case, there are two solutions - more correct and more economical. That's right - put two modules, each of which will serve its own zone. This is more convenient, since an accident will happen only on one of the risers / devices and it is unreasonable to disconnect the opposite part. But two modules are double the cost. To save money, you can put one control unit, which will shut off the taps by 4 risers. But in this case, do not forget that you will have to pull the wires through the entire apartment.

We need to think about where to install the system elements

In the case of heating, not everything is simple either. Most of the high-rise buildings have vertical wiring. This is when a riser passes in every (or almost every) room and one or two radiators are powered from it. It turns out that at least one valve must be installed for each branch - for the supply. But then the water contained in the radiator and pipes will flow out. This, of course, is not so much, but a couple of liters is sometimes enough for the neighbors below to have a stain on the ceiling. On the other hand, it is too expensive to put two taps on each radiator.

In a private house

To prevent the pump from pumping water in an emergency, it is necessary to use a water leakage protection controller with a power relay. If power is applied to the pump through the contacts of this relay, simultaneously with the signal to close the ball valves or valves, the pump power will be cut off. Why not just turn off the power to the pump? Because in this case, all the water that is in the system can pour out into the resulting gap. And this is usually a lot.

In order to understand in which places of the water supply system of a private house taps should be installed to prevent water leaks, it is necessary to study the diagram. Most often, shut-off valves with electric drives are installed after the pumping station and on the boiler.

Protection against water leakage can be included, or you can assemble your configuration from components

Heating is somewhat more complicated.Do not block the movement of the coolant if it is impossible to extinguish the boiler immediately. That is, in systems with solid fuel boilers, water leakage control can be set only if it does not block the circulation of the coolant. If there is a small circuit, the taps can be installed so that this small circuit works and the rest of the system is shut down. If a heat accumulator is installed in the system, taps must be installed so that water does not pour out of it. These are large-volume containers - at least 500 liters, and usually many times more. If all the liquid spills out, it won't seem a little.

In heating systems with automated boilers, taps can shut off the circulation. If the protection against water leaks works and cuts off the circulation, the boiler will stop due to overheating. This is not a completely normal situation, but also not an emergency.

Some technical points

Wired sensors are usually supplied with 2 meter cables. Electric ball valves are sold with the same cable length. This is not always enough. You can extend the length using the manufacturer's recommended cable. The brands are usually indicated in the instruction manual. Only upon purchase check the cross-section of the cores... Unfortunately, very often the actual diameter is much smaller than the stated one.

Generally speaking, the following extension cables can be recommended:

• for wired sensors, a shielded twisted pair with a conductor cross-section of at least 0.35 mm² is suitable;
• for cranes - a power cable in two-layer insulation with a conductor cross-section of at least 0.75 mm².

The correct arrangement of elements is not always obvious

It is desirable to make the connection maintainable. That is, if you are laying wires in the wall or in the floor, the connection must be made in the junction box. Connection method - any, reliable (soldering, contactors of any type, since the equipment is low-current). It is better to lay wires in walls or in the floor in cable ducts or pipes. In this case, it will be possible to replace the damaged cable without opening the strobe.

Protection against water leaks: parameters and selection criteria

Determining the number of sensors and shut-off valves is not so difficult, especially since many systems easily allow you to expand the control area. It is only important not to exceed the maximum allowed amount of equipment. But choosing a manufacturer is much more difficult - you cannot change it. Below we will present the most popular systems on the Russian market: "Aquastorozh", «Neptune"And"Sonar«.

Food

First, let's look at how power is supplied to various parts of the flood protection system:

• The voltage on the control unit must be constant.
• Cranes with an electric drive are powered only for the period of operation - maximum - for 2 minutes (Hydrolock).
• For wired sensors - only for the period of status polling (very short period of time).
• Wireless sensors are battery operated.

The water leakage protection can operate on 220 V, 12 V and 4.5 V. Generally speaking, the most safe is 12 V or lower.

Food types

Some systems are built in such a way that the control unit is powered by 220 V, and a safe voltage of 12 V or less is supplied to electric cranes and sensors. In other versions, 220 V can be supplied to the taps (some of the Neptune options). The voltage is supplied for a short time - only at the moment when it is necessary to turn off the water. This happens after an accident is detected and periodically - to check and maintain the system. The rest of the time the taps are de-energized. Which of the options suits you more is up to you.

Also pay attention to the presence of a backup power supply. If you have your own redundant power supply system (batteries, generator), this parameter can be omitted. Otherwise, having a backup power supply is highly desirable. Moreover, it is necessary to look at how long the equipment can operate in offline mode.In this sense, systems operating from 12 V are much more practical: if you wish, you can install a battery with suitable parameters and thereby extend the system's autonomous operation. Although, some systems (Hydroloc, for example) on a backup power supply (rechargeable batteries) can work for up to a year. During this time, the electricity will definitely turn on ...

Electric cranes: which are better

Let's say right away that there is protection against water leaks based on valves and ball valves. Ball valves are more reliable. They are more expensive, but they work much more reliably. When choosing, take the one in which the water is blocked by ball valves, and not valves. It has no options.

But ball valves are different. Here are the requirements they must meet:

• Made from brass or stainless steel. These metals should be used for bodies, stems, and check balls. Only in this case they will serve for a long time.
• Full bore cranes. This means that in the open state the section of the valve is not less than the section of the pipe on which it is installed. In this case, they do not interfere with the flow.

Ball valves "Neptune" can be recognized by the presence of a lever that allows you to easily shut off the water in manual mode

All market leaders - Aquastoro, Hydrolock and Neptune - use only such cranes. They can be made by different companies, but they are made of high quality metal. If the cheaper kits do not list the material or type of valve (full bore or not), look elsewhere.

Durability and closing time

We still need to talk about the parameters of electric drives. How reliable and durable they are depends on how reliable the protection against water leaks and how efficient the system is. Therefore, the gearbox and drive gears must be made of durable and reliable material. The most durable material that can be used here is metal. If we talk about the most famous systems, the following situation is observed at this point:

• In the Hydrolock system, gearboxes and gears are made of metal.
• At Aqua Watchdog, the gears are made of metal in the latest versions of the system, the gearbox has remained plastic.
• Neptune does not cover drive materials.

Another important characteristic is the closing time of ball valves. In theory, the faster the water supply is shut off in an accident, the better. Here the undisputed leader is Aquastoro - ball valves shut off in 2.5-3 seconds. But this speed is achieved:

• installation of additional gaskets, which reduces ball friction, but increases the risk of leaks;
• a small torque, and a small force applied when closing the valve can turn into the fact that if a foreign object (sand, scale, etc.) gets in or if it is overgrown with salts, the valve simply will not close.

Electric ball crane "Aquastorozh Expert-20". Input voltage 4.5 to 5.5 V

Closing force and manual mode

If we talk about the magnitude of the torque, here the Hydrolock water leakage protection is the leader. Its electric drives can develop a force of up to 450 kg / m. This is a very large indicator, but such parameters are for large-section cranes that are not used in apartments and houses. Nevertheless, half-inch and inch are also very powerful - they can develop forces up to 100 kg / m. Moreover, the applied force grows stepwise - if necessary, it increases from nominal to maximum.

And this is the proprietary trick of Gidrolok - the crane breaks the pencil ... Impressive!

There is one more point: the ability to shut off the electric crane in manual mode. Aquastoro and Gidrolok have parity in this regard: it is necessary to remove the drive by unscrewing a few bolts (for Gidrolok - 2, for Aquastore - 4), then manually turn the tap. Neptune is ahead in this regard: its drives have a lever, by turning which you manually open or close the water. But these cranes are equipped with the most expensive of the kits.

Crane Neptun Bugatti Pro 12 B 1/2 ″ with a lever on the body. If the drive housing is green, then the supply is 12 volts.For cranes designed for 220 volts, the drive housing is blue

Electric crane Neptun Bugatti Pro 220V 3/4 H-30

Features of the work algorithm

The principle of operation of any protection against water leakage has the same: when an alarm occurs, it shuts off the water supply and turns on the alarm. In this, all systems are similar, but there are certain features that some like, others don't.

The first feature is related to the processing of signals from sensors and taps. Some systems monitor the integrity of the wires that go to taps and wire sensors. In addition, if wireless sensors are available, they are regularly polled. This is all great and such systems are more reliable, but the response to a “missing” sensor or a faulty wire can be different:

• on the Hydrolock control panel, the signaling of missing sensors or faulty taps lights up, but the water does not shut off;
• The aqua watchman shuts off the water on the loss of any of the sensors or taps;
• in Neptune, only the response of the sensors is monitored and, according to the results, the alarm lights up without specifying the location.

Here everyone chooses for himself which of the options suits him best. Both ways of responding are imperfect, so there is no one answer.

There are subtleties in the algorithms of work

The second parameter for choosing a leakage protection system is the frequency of checking the performance of the valves. Since our water is far from being of the best quality, with prolonged downtime, the shut-off ball can "overgrow" with salts or, as they say, "stick". To prevent this from happening, the controllers periodically "move" the taps. The frequency is different:

• protection against water leaks Gidrolock (Gidrolok) conducts testing once a week;
• any Aquastoro controller turns the ball valves every two weeks;
• some variants of Neptune do not have this function, there are those that open / close the taps every two weeks.

Some fear that valve health checks will catch them in the shower. Of course, it is not pleasant to be soaped without water, but none of the owners have yet complained about such cases. So it's nowhere near as dangerous as it seems))

Some features of popular systems

In order to somehow highlight their protection against water leaks, the manufacturer is trying to increase reliability or come up with other moves. It is impossible to systematize these features, but it is better to know about them when choosing.

Single block capabilities

For different manufacturers, one control unit can control a different number of devices. So it doesn't hurt to know.

• One Hydrolock controller can handle a large number of wired or wireless sensors (200 and 100, respectively) and up to 20 ball valves. This is great - at any time you can install additional sensors or install a few more cranes, but such a reserve of capacity is not always in demand.
• One Akastorozh controller can serve up to 12 wired sensors. To connect wireless, you need to install an additional unit (designed for 8 pieces of "Aquastoro Radio"). To increase the number of wired ones - install another module. This modular expansion is more pragmatic.
• Neptune has different power control units. The most inexpensive and simple ones are designed for 2 or 4 taps, for 5 or 10 wire sensors. But they do not have a functional check of the cranes and no backup power source.

As you can see, everyone has a different approach. And these are just the leaders. There are even smaller campaigns and Chinese firms (where can we go without them) that either repeat one of the above plans, or combine several.

Additional functions

Additional ones are not always unnecessary. For example, for those who are often on the road, the ability to control cranes from a distance is far from superfluous.

• Hydrolok and Aquatoroz have the ability to remotely turn off the water. For this, a special button is placed at the front door. Come out for a long time - pressed, turned off the water.AquaGuard has such a button in two versions: radio and wired. Hydrolock has only wired one. The Aquastore radio button can be used to determine the "visibility" of the location of the wireless sensor.
• Sonar, Aquastore and some variants of Neptune can send signals to the dispatch service, security and fire alarms, and can be built into the “smart home” system.
• Hydrolock and Aquastoro check the integrity of the wiring to the taps and their position (some systems, not all). In Hydroloc, the position of the locking ball is monitored by an optical sensor. That is, when checking, there is no voltage in the tap. The AquaGuard has a contact pair, that is, at the time of the test, the voltage is present. Protection against water leaks Neptune also monitors the position of the taps using a contact pair.

The sonar can be controlled by a GSM module - via SMS (enable and disable commands). Also, in the form of text messages, signals about accidents and "disappearances" of sensors, about breaks of cables to electric cranes and from malfunctions can be sent to the phone.

Being always aware of the state of your home is a useful option

On the question of reliability: power and other points

Reliable performance goes beyond the reliability of cranes and controllers. Much depends on the power supply, on how long each of the units can work in autonomous mode.

• Aqua Watchdog and Sonar have redundant power supplies. Both systems shut off the water before fully discharging the backup power supply. Neptune has batteries only for the last two models of controllers and then the taps do not close when discharged. The rest - earlier and less expensive models - have 220 V power supply and no protection.
• Neptune's wireless sensors operate at 433 kHz. It happens that the control unit "does not see" them through the partitions.
• If the batteries in the wireless sensor "Hydroloc" run out, the alarm on the controller will light up, but the taps will not close. The signal is generated several weeks before the battery is completely discharged, so there is time to change it. In a similar situation, Aqua Watchdog shuts off the water. By the way, the battery of the Hydrolock is soldered. So changing it is not so easy.
• AquaGuard has a lifetime warranty for any sensors.
• Neptune has wired sensors that are flush with the trim material.

We have covered all the features of the three most popular manufacturers of water protection systems. In short, the worst thing about Aquastoroz is a plastic gearbox on the drive, Hydrolok has a high system power and, accordingly, the price. Neptune - inexpensive systems are powered by 220 V, do not have a backup power source and valve performance checks.

Naturally, there are Chinese leakage protection systems, but they should be chosen with care.