Have you recently experienced water damage at your place of work?
Water leaks can be caused by all manner of things including, a leaking roof, faulty faucet, blocked drain, worn seals, faulty appliances etc. Small leaks can often occur in places hidden and can go unnoticed causing extensive damage before the leak is realised.
Neglecting to address leaks promptly can lead to severe repercussions and can cause structural damage to the premises with wood rotting, metal structures corroding as well as damaging building materials like drywall and insulation. Water leaks near electrical equipment or wiring pose a significant risk of electrical damage, system failure and even fire. Furthermore, contents such as books, clothing and electronics can all be ruined making them unsellable.
What can you do to reduce your risk?
Having an early warning when leaks occur is crucial in preventing major damage and disruption to your business.
If your premise is susceptible to water leaks, you may already check specific areas manually in an attempt to prevent extensive damage and reduce your risks. However, manual checks aren’t a hugely efficient or a reliable method of prevention, as some leaks are difficult to spot and significant damage done in between checks.
Implementing a leak detection system that automatically monitors the areas most at risk, is a far more reliable and cost effective method of prevention.
How does a leak detection system work?
Wireless sensors with a cable attached are placed in the areas that need monitoring. When water hits the cable it is detected by the sensor and updates an online monitoring portal, automatically alerting your response team by phone, SMS or email. The alert message details which sensor triggered the alert and by reviewing a site map in the portal, the responders can see the sensor and the location of the leak.
If required, the solution can also automatically turn water valves off, to ensure no further damage is sustained, whilst the team attend and assess the situation.
The cables connected to the sensors come in different forms and lengths measured to your exact
needs and to fit your particular requirement. For instance, to detect leaks in a roof, a wire mesh material that spreads out on the floor to cover a section directly underneath the roof space can be used.
Similarly to detect the presence of water in a particular area, a cable that runs around the room perimeter, close to the appliance or in an electrical riser is usually the best option.
The sensors are wireless making them easy to install and helps to keep the costs down as they don’t need expensive cabling for power or connectivity. The sensors are low powered, which means batteries last a long time approx 2-3 years. They transmit data to our online portal via a 4G gateway. The long range capabilities of the sensors makes it possible to cover large areas with a small number of gateways and monitor areas where there is no access to 4G, WiFi or the corporate network.
The secure online portal is easily accessible through a web browser from either your PC, Laptop or Smartphone. Here registered users can see the position of each sensor on a site map and their current live status i.e. active (water detected) or non-active (water not detected).
Charts and reports show historic information and show the number of leaks detected over a given period. You can also see how the system is performing, whether any gateways are off line, sensors are out of range or batteries need replacing. Technical alarms can also be configured to alert the response team, when potential faults are detected.
A big part of any monitoring solution is ensuring alarms are dealt with and managed effectively. With this solution you don’t need someone sitting idly monitoring a screen and manually distributing alerts to your response team. This can all be done automatically.
What’s more you can control this yourself by adding / amending team members’ details directly. You decide which member(s) receives which alarm and how they get it either by phone call, SMS and email. All alarm information is logged and timestamped on the system too, detailing when they were acknowledged and closed by the team. This makes it possible to review how alarms are handled and where improvements can be made.
The solution is easily expandable too and other sensors such as temperature, CO2, energy, power, vibration, sound, light etc can be added ad hoc to help you to collect data and remotely monitor the condition of your business environments, equipment and appliances all from one single application.
Summary
If you or your team spend time checking areas for water damage, worry each time it rains heavily or wonder what impact a leak could have if water penetrates through to an electrical riser, fret no more. A leak detection solution from ANT Telecom can help you save time monitoring your site manually and minimise the risk to your facilities and contents by providing instant alerts.
If you would like a demonstration, pricing or more information about our leak detection solution, please get in touch with us. You can find all our contact details by clicking on the contact us tab at the top right of this page
