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Monitoring a city water meter

apostolakisl

By apostolakisl
in Coffee Shop

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apostolakisl Advanced

apostolakisl

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Update:  The Flume appears to be working very well.  The water meter, in a pit, about 300 feet from the base station under a heavy metal lid is communicating quite well and appears to be accurate.  The base station got wonky on me after I did a reboot (for reasons nothing to do with the flume) on my router.  But outside of that, no issues.  It appears if I want to integrate with ISY I need to pay for the $50 annual subscription to Flume for the added functionality.  Not sure I really need that. 

Good news on the Kitec pipe, it appears that Kitec was only used when the plumbers came out prior to the slab pour.  It would seem that the several months that passed between then and when the plumbing rough-in happened is when Kitec was recalled.  Fortunately, I specified no plumbing in the slab, so I only have to deal with the main service entrance and the kitchen island.  The main service entrance is 2x 1 inch lines.  I think I can just use those as conduits and pull two 3/4 inch copper lines for the 10 feet or so.  And I had them put a 1 inch conduit to the kitchen island for future unknown use, which I think I can put 2 3/8 lines whithin.  If not, I can at least pull a single 1/2 line and install a small electric hot water heater under the sink.

image.thumb.png.3c7ff59c06e01fbfa3842095137a5b75.png

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Jimbo.Automates Advanced

Jimbo.Automates

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I chatted with their support which said:

Hi Jim, I'm about this. We recently introduced Flume Insight- a subscription-based service that Flume offers. It provides new levels of customization and detail that increase your ability to conserve water and protect your home. You can find more information here. API access is now a part of insight. However our leadership team is looking into how to make API available without insight in the future. We would be happy to keep you updated on this
I understand how that is frustrating. Your current subscription will not be affected, but new users will not have API access without subscribing to Flume Insight. I will let you know if that changes.


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Jimbo.Automates Advanced

Jimbo.Automates

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Any other users, please let me know if you purchased flume and now are required to pay for API access, which I guess is a recent change.

Also, please let me know if you are using it and have API access so I can let them know how many people purchased it specifically because of the ISY integration.

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hart2hart Advanced

hart2hart

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Any other users, please let me know if you purchased flume and now are required to pay for API access, which I guess is a recent change.

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I purchased a couple weeks ago and I am in 30 day trial period on subscription.
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Jimbo.Automates Advanced

Jimbo.Automates

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Support added:
Can you check back in a month? I just checked in with our leadership team and we’re planning to offer API to basic users in the future, but are working through the logistics. In the meantime, new users without Insight will not have access.

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KeviNH Advanced

KeviNH

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All this is why I refuse to buy cloud-tethered home automation where the API is out on an internet server somewhere and can be taken away at any time.

I'm not on city water, have no meter.    I do have a water softener with inlet and outlet flow tracking, looks like the sensors are just hall-effect flowmeters.     Somewhat tempted to try to get the pulse-per-100ml output from those, but just haven't had time or a pressing need.

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Jimbo.Automates Advanced

Jimbo.Automates

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All this is why I refuse to buy cloud-tethered home automation where the API is out on an internet server somewhere and can be taken away at any time.
I'm not on city water, have no meter.    I do have a water softener with inlet and outlet flow tracking, looks like the sensors are just hall-effect flowmeters.     Somewhat tempted to try to get the pulse-per-100ml output from those, but just haven't had time or a pressing need.
Yes, of course, but there is currently no better option that I am aware of that doesn't require a plumber and a lot of work. Especially for my case since I want to monitor sprinklers water usage and stuck valves as well which would require a monitor installed right after the city valve since my sprinklers do not go through the shutoff at the house. As I've previously stated, I installed a z-wave in line monitor at my lake house while getting other plumping work done. I'd do the same if it was possible at my home.

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MrBill Advanced

MrBill

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@Jimbo In your customer count you can include me for 2 Flume's possibly.  I haven't purchased yet (I have two water district meters one for House that receives the Sewer surcharge and a second service and meter for Outdoor water (sprinkler and pool) that gets billed water only-no sewer).  Currently I've sent a note to the ladies in the water district office asking if they have any problem if I attach Flumes to the meter (I already checked they are compatible).  I know the water district will end up telling me to go ahead, but they are the type of people that it's better to talk first than let them notice someday and get huffy and tell me that it's not approved.  

..... and if I have to pay to use the API, I might not buy. 

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hart2hart Advanced

hart2hart

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Support added:
Can you check back in a month? I just checked in with our leadership team and we’re planning to offer API to basic users in the future, but are working through the logistics. In the meantime, new users without Insight will not have access.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk



Thank you.
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  • 3 weeks later...
apostolakisl Advanced

apostolakisl

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After a great deal of research and consideration, I decided to repair the kitec.  I purchased aluminum kitec to pex fittings made by a 3rd party vendor out of Canada.  It seems that the issue is the aluminum in the pipe reacting with non-aluminum fittings, and perhaps the soil.  I cut back the kitec pipe until I got nice clean pipe, then a bit more.  One of the two pipes was not corroded at all, the other was corroded about a foot or so.  Put in the fittings and jumpered over to the copper using pex.  I sealed the aluminum with rubberized water proofing spray from gorilla glue people.  I used many coats.  I then protected the fittings with a pvc sheath before burial.  I feel comfortable that this will last a very long time.  Should it fail, it will only leak water in the ground.  The Flume is working quite well so I should detect a leak quickly should one occur.  Anyway, water is now flowing into the house like normal.  No more water that smells like garden hose.

@Jimbo  Any update on the Flume API?

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
apostolakisl Advanced

apostolakisl

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1 minute ago, Jimbo said:

Nice! Even sooner than they said emoji16.png

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk
 

They did an overhaul on their website which is nice.  You can view your water usage by the minute, hour, day, week, month, year.

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