I looked for recent discussions that covered what I’m thinking but couldn’t find any.
I currently have my main water line from the meter “tee’d” off. One side goes into my house where I have a Moen Flo. The other side goes to my irrigation system. I’d like to have some leak detection on the irrigation branch and a way to shut off the water if I detect the need. I am using opensprinkler so I think I should be able to know when sprinklers are running to know that’s not a leak.
It seems to me that a pressure transducer and a controllable shutoff would get me a lot of functionality. Add to that a water meter that gives me flow information (like a DAE PD-100) and I’d have a lot of info. All the components would have to be lead-free since this branch is connected to my potable water supply. My idea would be to use ESP home and an ESP32 to monitor and control things. My garage is just on the other side of the wall from this plumbing so I think the ESP32 stuff could be in the garage where there is power. I could run wires through the wall (there’s already an opening) to provide DC power and connect to sensors.
I’ve considered just installing another Flo device. But I really don’t need all that “fanciness”. And I think the installation is a little inconvenient (and outdoors which has its own issues). I’d also be worried about whether or not it’s smart enough not to false alarm on sprinklers running.
If you’ve done a similar kind of system, I’d love to hear from you :). I’m definitely in the mood for a project, but I don’t want it to end up being a can of worms.