Toilet Tank Water Sensor to Detect Water Running On

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Issue:
The toilet in our powder room sometimes runs on after flushing. The flush mechanism in the tank looks fine. A handle jiggle stops the running and the tank fills. Certainly, something is wrong with the float switch or the flapper that seals water in the tank. Upon inspection, it all looks perfect.

Solution:
My interim solution is to monitor the tank and receive a notification when the water is running on. The goal is to do better troubleshooting when the tank is not sealing - but it only happens maybe one in a hundred flushes.

Hardware:
I am using a HomeSeer HS-LS100+ G8 Z-Wave water leak sensor. The sensor is battery powered. The water pickup is 3 pins on the bottom of the sensor. The package includes a magnetic base that is wired to a tribal 2 pin pickup in a small plastic block.

I tie-wrapped the wired remote pickup to the vertical tube in the toilet tank at a level that when the tank is full of water, the pickup pins are submerged.

I included the sensor in Home Assistant and tested it. It works.

I created a notification automation to alert me when the toilet water has been running for 60 second, which suggests that the tank is not retaining water and the water is running on. I tested the automation and it works.

Software:
Then I nerded out a bit more. The following are not useful for knowing the water is running on, but they’re sort of fun, if not creepy.

  1. Created a notification automation when the toilet is flushed
  2. Created a Helper to create new state names (Full and Running)
  3. Created a Helper as a flush Counter
  4. Added the Flush Counter value to my Powder Room Toilet dashboard entity card
  5. Created an automation to reset the flush counter daily - at midnight
  6. Edited the notification automation for Toilet Flushed to included the current flush count for the day

If anyone is interested in the YAML for any of this, just ask.

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2

I added a solenoid valve with smart plug to toilet line . When motion sensor detect person in our restroom for 30 sec, it’s turn valve ON, when it’s no motion for 15 minutes ( which is enough to fill up toilet tank after use) it’s turn valve OFF. Something like that
Beduan Brass Electric Solenoid Valve, 1/2" 110V Air Valve Normally Colsed for Water Air Gas Fuel Oil: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

3

I like your solution. Thanks for sharing the valve link.

Do you know if the valve is NSF rated?

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No, I don’t . I use ASCO RedHat industrial . That one just for example
This is what I use (more expensive, but more reliable ( we use them at industrial facility for decades ))
ASCO 8210G002-120/60,110/50 Brass Body Pilot Operated General Service Solenoid Valve, 1/2" Pipe Size, 2-Way Normally Closed, Nitrile Butylene Sealing, 5/8" Orifice, 4 Cv Flow, 120V/60 Hz, 110V/50 Hz: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

5

What do you mean it’s not useful? That’s perfect for triggering an automation that plays a highly satisfied “Ahhhh… thanks for that” on a speaker.

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In a middle of the night :rofl:

Hydro130 (Chris) 7

1 Like
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Replace it.
It’s cheaper than the water bill jump in a month and also cheaper than adding sensors and hardware for this.

9

I’d agree, its a pretty simple job usually.

However, for the sake of the thread, I’d also be curious to see if a vibration sensor in the side of the cistern would be sensitive enough to detect the water…

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What does the flush mechanism look like? Does it have flush plates?