Has anyone used SONOFF SNZB-05P for detecting "low/out of water" in a fountain, etc?

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I've got a fountain that has its own 2 gal water reservoir in the base. I currently have a b-hyve hose adapter feeding water to this three-six times/day. I'm in FL so temps go really high and the water empties quickly. Instead of wasting water refilling the fountain when it's NOT empty - and thus having the water run out and muddy the area around the pond, I'd thought of putting a water sensor on a "rock" or "lift" or something about 6" from the bottom of the reservoir, get the REVERSE of what a water sensor is supposed to do (ie: no water sensed) then initiate a fill until the top is reached. (ie: I'd measure how long the average fill from the sensor to the top is, and run the hose for that amount of time).

The designs of all the sensors I've seen do not really allow for me to say "fill it until the alarm is triggered" because of their bulk and inability to mount in a certain vertical level in my fountain's reservoir. It's probably easier to say "Ignore all water alarms. Pay attention to when there's NO alarm sent. I know this is a recipe for recharging the unit a LOT but I have no other options to do what I want to do, do I? PS: ANY solution needs to be Zigbee as I have plenty of strength in my ZigBee mesh, and little to none in WiFi and Z-Wave where the fountain is located.

Ideas?

TIA!
Jann

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For a non-automated solution, I installed a float valve. It's basically a mechanical water level regulator. Bought a stainless steel one from Amazon.for about $12. Works great. I can see the fountain spray go down one day and then the next day it's back at the high level. No automation required.

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If you do decide to automate you could use this style, I have about 12 and they work well, They're cheap and use 2xAAA batteries. Using 2 you could do empty and full. This links to amazon but Ailiexpress is about half the price.

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I am using this exact sensor for my fountain filler.

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I am using the same leak sensor as posted by kuzenkohome in this thread for my fountain filler now.

First thing, the terminals on these form a meniscus on the probe, so they actually take some time to "dry out" when the water level goes below them.

The solution is to solder wire extensions onto the probes, and leave only the wire end in the water at the level you want to detect. Then they will register the water level drop instantly.

I also had the issue where I could not get Zigbee in range on the far end of the deck where the fountain is. I added over 20 feet of speaker wire onto the probes, so I could connect the sensor to Zigbee closer to the house. This works surprisingly well, even with that length of wire, and I just ran the wire under the deck.

I wrote a little app to control filling my fountain with this sensor and a valve. I use a Zigbee water valve (GIEX) to control the water fill. Since I don't need the fountain running when nobody is out there to enjoy it, I use a motion sensor on the deck to turn it on for 30 minutes when there is motion. It will continue to push out the off time until there is no motion for 30 minutes, then the fountain turns off. Much more water evaporates or splashes out when it is on as well, so no reason to run it 24/7.

When the fountain is running, the water level in the tank drops since some water is in the upper bowls, so my fill level is actually deep enough in the tank so that when the fountain turns off and drains back into the tank, it does not overflow.

Because of the water level changes when on, the perfect time to check level is right after it turns on. I do a small delay when fountain power turns on, then check the sensor, and it will fill if the sensor is dry. Filling means filling until the sensor shows filled, and then filling for another 30 seconds to go a bit over fill line. Otherwise the filler will fill much more often, since it is always on the "edge" of needing a fill, so give it a bit of buffer on the fill for the sensor to not go dry right away.

I also have a timer that checks every half hour, while the fountain is running, for a fill. If there are people active for hours on the deck and it never turns off, I want to top it off occasionally as well.

Here is my app if you want to try it or modify it. It controls the on/off from the sensor, as well as the auto filling.

Fountain Controller App

Edit: I just added preferences for the fill check interval for when the fountain is running, and a preference for how long to "overfill" after the sensor shows filled. In case anyone wants to use this app and change those timings.

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