Water meter recommendation needed (wifi=no zigbee, zwave etc., local=no cloud)

Hardware
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Hello everyone,
I am looking for a smart water meter that uses wifi and runs locally.

There is currently no water meter in the apartment (yes, in Germany it is legal to bill per m²) but there is an installation point in which I could have a meter installed (in the spot where the official one should one day be installed).
Does anybody know of a reliable water meter that would fit these criteria?
I wouldn’t complain if it did not cost hundreds :smiley:

Thank you for your recommendations :slight_smile:

All the best
Alex

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I bought a standard water meter with pulse output (1 pulse per liter) and build up a simple wifi node with a esp32 devkit plus some basic electronics. Software on esp32 made with esphome with counter and flow rate measure available to HA.

If you can manage some soldering I can give you all details on components.

I searched for something already built, but didn’t find anything affordable and compatible with HA

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Hello @dariob ,

thank you for your suggestion. That sounds like a good idea. I am no pro but quite capable when it comes to soldering :slight_smile:

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image
image1509×366 114 KB

pulse

3 Likes
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wow!!! id pay for this!

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Links? Product Info or something? Please

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I have already seen a post here with exactly this content which is apparently hidden or deleted. Probably a moderator could restore it to be available again…

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This one is to avoid (if it is the one on the picture). I have it and the pulses vary a lot for the same amount of water. Good enough to indicate if water is running or not but I never were able to measure the correct amounts of water with that particular device.

Just checked and my looks different actually, like a “no brand” version:

image

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I did consider the Zenner models, but at 100-150€ they are not cheap.
@adrians , did you find a more reliable solution than the YF-xx models?
Since I am primarily interested in seeing consumption of e.g. dishwasher or washing machine, I would like it to be rather accurate (not 1 mL but maybe 100 mL).

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I’m definitely interested. Have you attached this to your mains?

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I am guessing that all need to be connected to the mains, unfortunately. Unless you power the esp32 with batteries which seems to have only a very very short battery life then.

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I used this

MISURATORE DI FLUSSO (CONTATORE… https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00PM00VKC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

The other type of sensor seen here didn’t give me a good feeling of reliability, this one cost much more but it’s precise and certified. There are also version with higher resolution, but as I see in these months where I use hundreds of liters per day it wont be so useful.

1 Like
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I used a ESP32 devkit C powered with a old mobile phone power adapter.

Sensor is isolated from ESP32 by an optocoupler (sensor is outside with about 5 meter cable, so to save the ESP I isolated it)

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This is the scheme of connection. 5V power to sensor comes from mobile phone adapter that powers also the ESP32, but sensor input is protected via a N435 optocoupler

ESP32_Scheme
ESP32_Scheme1283×446 50 KB

Here is the ESPHome configuration for the node:

  • I changed pin number for better cable routing to #33
  • I created a moving average inside the ESP for water flow, doing inside HA gives problems as it updates only on counter change, so after the last pulse water flow remains >0 until next pulse comes in.
  • There are also 5 dallas sensor for temperature readings.
substitutions:
  devicename: contatore-acqua
  
esphome:
  name: ${devicename}

esp32:
  board: esp32dev
  framework:
    type: arduino

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:

ota:
  password: "*****"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

  # Optional manual IP
  manual_ip:
    static_ip: 192.168.1.130
    gateway: 192.168.1.254
    subnet: 255.255.255.0

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: "Contatore-Acqua Fallback Hotspot"
    password: "*********"

captive_portal:

dallas:
  - pin: 27
    update_interval: 10s
    
  
# Example configuration entry
sensor:
  - platform: pulse_counter
    pin: 
      number: 33
      mode:
        input: true
        pullup: true
        
    name: "Portata acqua"
    unit_of_measurement: "l/min"
    update_interval: 6s
    filters:
      - debounce: 150ms
      - sliding_window_moving_average:
          window_size: 10
          send_every: 1
      
    
    total:
      unit_of_measurement: 'litri'
      name: 'Consumo acqua'
      filters:
        - multiply: 1.000  
        
  - platform: dallas
    address: 0xc40415a1d741ff28
    name: "Mandata riscaldamento"

  - platform: dallas
    address: 0xd60115917fa7ff28
    name: "Ritorno riscaldamento"
    
  - platform: dallas
    address: 0x650415a1aec6ff28
    name: "Ingresso acqua fredda"
    
  - platform: dallas
    address: 0x310315a1f2bdff28 
    name: "Acqua calda sanitaria"
    
  - platform: dallas
    address: 0x540415a1b117ff28 
    name: "Temperatura lavanderia"
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Thanks but i dont know anything about this lol
I can only admire others lol

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How did you integrated it in HA?

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:point_down: