I have a water meter that makes noise (ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk…) every time a large volume of water is used for such things as toilet flush, washer filling, etc. I thought I could use a vibration sensor to notify me and/or activate an automatic shutoff when this continues for an extended period (e.g. 10-15 minutes ) when we are away from home.
I bought a Third Reality vibration sensor and attached it to the water meter using velcro tape. The sensor, set to high sensitivity, does detect when water is flowing through the meter.
My rule trigger is [vibration sensor is active and stays that way for 10 minutes]. The sensor detects each ka-thunk and reports as “active” but then quickly changes to “inactive” between each ka-thunk, so the rule never triggers (because it never stays “active” for the full time period even though the water flows continuously).
I live in a condo so don’t want to install an in-line water sensor/valve.
How can I structure a rule to account for the rapid switching between active and inactive status to trigger a notification or auto shutoff when water is flowing continuously when we are away?
Thank you for the suggestions. I think that the counting method may be a little too complex. The Trigger change approach also won't work because of the rapid switching between "active" and "inactive" status while the water is flowing.
So I have adopted the following solution:
Create a new virtual valve named vWaterFlow.
Create a new Basic Rule that sets vWaterFlow to open, when the water meter vibration is "active."
Create a Notification that uses the virtual device, vWaterFlow, not the actual vibration sensor itself, to notify when it has been "open" (i.e. water has been flowing continuously) for more than 5 minutes.
