I am trying to measure (and when needed shut off) the main water mains.
Currently I use a simple on/off valve (tuya) and a vibration sensor (Smartthings contact sensor in fact) to understand if there is flow or not.
But the contact sensor is not reliable and consumes battery very quickly since it is always changing state (when flow starts and stops)
So I tried a vibration sensor from Aqara. But this one has weak signal receive and so unreliable.
As a better solution I am looking for a valve with measuring feature. But I need an affordable one.
Would this one work with Hubitat : https://www.amazon.com/Zigbee-Smart-Shutoff-Display-214C/dp/B0G64D25MV/
I’ve had good experience with the Aeotec multi sensor with detecting water flow in pipes. Been using them to turn on my bathroom fan when i take a shower. They are VERY sensitive so I use foam tape to chill them out a little bit.
Hard to say, but being Tuya Zigbee, one of @kkossev drivers may work, like the Tuya Ultrasonic water flow meter (no shutoff), or maybe even Tuya Zigbee Valve driver.
Though this may be a totally different device than anything he has a driver for. You could try it out and see, Amazon is good with returns.
If he doesn't have a driver that will work, Krassimir may be willing to help you with writing a driver for it, with you sending info about the device once you have it connected.
Bit of a crap-shoot though.
Edit: There is also AI if you wanted to try and get AI to write a driver for it.
sure , it can be. But then I will have to make a water resistant box for it.
what is the flow sensor that you would recommend ? how is that applied to the pipe ? (in line or on the pipe)
actually the smartthings sensor is also working. But it is outside the house and a little away from the hub. So the zigbee signal gets weak and sometimes, the active/inactive message is not received.
I installed a zigbee gas detector with AC outside to act as a repeater but the situation did not change. How can I force the zigbee sensor to use the detector as a repeater for zigbee ?
ok; good idea. and actually I am good with esp32 s3 or esp32c6 so I can build the part which will communicate with HE hub (either wifi or zigbee)
BUT, I don't have any experience with such sensors and I am not sure if I can make something water resistant.
and when I figure it out, I will have to find how I can feed the power. I'm not sure if I can find a battery which will work 2 weeks.
Personally, I would prioritize a fitting that’s certified as lead-free, and then solve for the other problems (weather resistance, connection to Hubitat).
Or as a possible alternative, keep looking for a device that’s not in-line with the water flow to avoid that potential problem.
In Turkey , we don't drink water coming from the mains. So it is not drinking water. But even if it was, the part you sent as an example is all metal to be placed inline.
It looks like brass. It’s unlikely to be certified as lead-free.
Here’s an explanation from Claude. May not be relevant to your use case, but perhaps important for anyone else reading:
Brass naturally contains lead to improve machinability, so uncertified fittings can leach lead into drinking water — a serious neurotoxin with no safe exposure level. The U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) defines “lead free” as a weighted average of ≤0.25% lead across wetted surfaces. Two key ANSI standards govern compliance:
• NSF/ANSI 372 verifies material composition doesn’t exceed 0.25% lead on wetted surfaces
• NSF/ANSI 61 measures actual contamination via leaching tests — what migrates into water
Both require third-party certification by accredited bodies. Together they protect potable water safety at the point of contact.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
In one of my rentals I recently installed a yosmart flow and shutoff valve. It's lorawan and has a 10 year battery. It can use a hub and also does direct device associations with leak detectors. The lorawan gets you great distance.
My concern would be durability of the plastic outdoors, though I’m sure it depends on whether it’s sheltered from rain/UV and temperature ranges it’s exposed to.
This one says NSF certified, which they don’t explain at all on the product page but presumably means lead-free. That certification adds to the cost.
Personally, that would be a must for me, but OP has mentioned it’s not for him as they don’t drink the tap water.
Yes, I have a variant of that model. The 10 year battery life and no need to plug it in was the seller for me. No need to worry about power and backup power.
I have the cellular hub also at that property. Solid little system. Water valve, leak sensors with rope type sensors. Door lock with keyfob, keypad, fingerprint.. Inexpensive.
And with the lastest YoLink hub - It can be all local via Matter (Not sure if all the devices in question are support for Matter yet, but they are getting there)
