Typical project · Quebec and Ontario
Leak detection with shut-off by riser in a condo building
These are typical projects, described from the kind of work we do. They do not describe a named client or a specific building.
A hose fails on an upper floor during the night, and the water runs through every ceiling below before anyone wakes. This is how a condo building is equipped with a Water Leak Detection System that finds a leak and closes the right valve by itself.
The situation: one leak, many units and an insurer asking questions
The client is the syndicate of co-owners of a condo building, most often through its management company. The building has had water damage before: a washing machine hose, a water heater at the end of its life, a tap left running. Each time, the units below suffered as much as the one where it started.
The insurer now asks what the building does to limit water damage, and the deductible comes back at every meeting of the board. The board wants a system that acts by itself at night, without shutting off the water of the whole building for one leaking hose.
What the first visit to the building finds
- Risers that serve stacked unitsEach vertical water line feeds the same rooms on every floor. Closing one riser cuts the water of a single stack of units and leaves the rest of the building untouched.
- Valves that exist but cannot be reached in timeThe manual valves are in a locked mechanical room or behind access panels, and at night nobody on site knows which one to close.
- The same risk points in every unitWater heater, washing machine, dishwasher, kitchen sink and bathrooms are in the same places from one floor to the next, so the sensor plan repeats.
- Little power and no network near the valvesThere is no outlet and no network close to the valve locations, and the concrete between the floors weakens a radio signal.
What is designed, and why
The design answers the board's two requests: act without anyone present, and cut as little water as possible.
- Sensors where leaks startEach unit receives sensors near its water heater, its appliances and under its sinks. Wireless sensors avoid opening finished walls and ceilings in occupied homes.
- A motorised valve on each riserEach riser receives a motorised shut-off valve linked to the sensors of the units it feeds. A leak in one unit closes the riser of that stack only; the neighbours on the other risers keep their water.
- Relays for the radio signalRepeaters in the corridors and the mechanical spaces carry the messages of the sensors through the concrete. How the valves are powered, and what keeps working during a power failure, is settled at design, according to the equipment chosen.
- Alerts to the right peopleWhen a sensor trips, the valve closes and an alert goes to the manager, the building superintendent and the occupant of the unit, with the name of the unit and of the sensor.
- Manual control keptEach valve can still be opened and closed by hand, and reopening after an alert is a deliberate act by someone who has checked the unit.
How the work is sequenced in a building where people live
The water is cut one riser at a time, for a short announced period, and the units are visited by appointment.
- A plan approved by the board
The board receives the list of sensors by type of unit, the valve locations and the calendar, and approves them before anything is ordered.
- Notices and appointments
Co-owners and occupants are told, in English and French, when the water of their riser will be cut and when their unit will be visited.
- Valves, one riser at a time
The work on the piping is coordinated with a plumber and done riser by riser: each one is drained, fitted with its valve and put back in service the same day.
- Sensors, floor by floor
The units are equipped by appointment. Each sensor is given the name of its unit and of its location as it is installed.
- A test with water
Each sensor is tried with water; the closing of its valve and the arrival of the alerts are checked and recorded.
What is handed over
- The list of sensors and valves, by unit and by riser
- The shut-off plan: which valve closes for which unit
- The record of the test of each sensor and each valve
- The procedure after an alert: who checks, who reopens the water, who is told
- A one-page guide for occupants, in English and French
- Access for the manager and the people the board names, and their training
Services involved
Industry
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A project like this starts with the plumbing drawings and a visit
Tell us how many units and risers the building has and what has happened in the past. We look at the mechanical room, the valves and a few typical units, then quote the sensors, the valves and their installation. We reply in English or French.