Monitoring

In addition to improving the hardware, we wanted the new sensors to correctly align with the change in our philosophy established for the Perseus platform - each external data source acting as a single “Meter”, with one or more “Variables” available.

In the past, most of our monitoring units, whether it was Poseidon2, Damocles2, Ares 12 or any other, operated with the “Sensor Values” licenses, so all the sensors supported this line of reasoning. There was a maximum number of “Sensor Values” available for each device, not the number of connected physical or virtual data sources.

With the introduction of the Perseus platform, the “Sensor Values” and the licenses for the respective monitoring units no longer exist, because in Perseus units we only work with the “Meter”, which represents a connected data source, either a sensor, a detector, another device connected via XML, SNMP, MQTT or Modbus/RTU, and its “Variables”, similar to the former “Sensor Values”.

With all Perseus units supporting up to 100 meters and 1000 variables, we needed to find a way to capitalize on this number. With the first generation of sensors connected to a Perseus unit, you would get a separate “Meter” for each “Sensor Value”. 

Because so many sensors have more than one measured value, starting with the popular combined Temperature and Humidity sensors, which are the most commonly used sensors in any environment - with such combined sensors you would have to work with two separate “Meters”, and their respective “Variables”. In the case of the 1-st generation THPVoC sensor, you would have 4 separate “Meters” in the Perseus device, in one physical box with four hardware probes.

This will change with the next generation of 1-Wire UNI sensors, which have been upgraded specifically to accommodate the change in the Perseus platform. With the new generation of 1-Wire sensors, those that have more than one measured value will be represented in the Perseus’s GUI as a single “Meter”, with multiple Variables (formerly “Sensor Values”).

This may seem like a small change, but for the HW group it is important and essential, as we want to give our users the full ability to use all the 100 Meters available to them from a hardware perspective. In addition, Perseus views Meters differently than the older monitoring devices we produced in the past, and the real work in the new Perseus units is at the Variable level. This means that this change will help Perseus users organize and manage their monitoring setups much more efficiently.

And nothing changes for the older HW group devices with the newer sensors - they are backwards compatible with everything we’ve produced in our 20-year history.

Traditional water spot (flood) detectors are inexpensive, easy to install, and popular in many industries. They typically use 2 or 4 pins, and water is detected when those pins are connected. The problem is that there must be a continuous layer of water to detect the presence of water. 

The spot water detectors should be installed with care and precision, at lower surface levels. In the real world, there is a high probability of a very late alarm. You will be alerted when everything is already flooded, just because a detector was placed where the water is coming from at the end of a flood disaster. We call this type of late warning a "swimming invitation", not an early warning. 

Businesses and industries where the detection and control of water and other liquids is critical know from experience the importance of early warning with the first few drops of water. The first few minutes are critical to preventing ultimate damage. 
Final damage is not the cleaning service and drying out of the building, but the company being out of business, damaged (unreliable) servers, etc.

	Spot water (flood) detection	Sensing cable water leak detection
System cost	Up to €100	From €400
Installation time	5 min	1 hour / zone
What is detected	Water layer (2mm min) on 2 contacts	First drops of water along the entire length of the sensing cable
Late alert (swimming invitation)	Highly likely	Unlikely
False alarm probability	Unlikely	Unlikely
Early warning	Unlikely	Highly likely

Water spot (flood) detection

Flood detectors only detect water in one location and must be completely flooded. This means that you will not be alerted immediately when a water pipe breaks, but only when the area is significantly flooded. Therefore, it is not the ideal solution for data centers etc. where you need to be alerted before the water reaches your IT infrastructure. 
Only the use of the water detection cable ensures this.

Using the Water spot detection:

• Easy to use detector
• High risk of improper installation
• Swimming invitation alerts only

 

Sensing cable water leak detection

Using Water Leak Detection with a sensing cable you can detect the first drops anywhere in the monitored room/area. This early warning can prevent significant damage to IT or other infrastructure. Water Leak Detection with sensing cable is recommended in IT, data centers, engineering and medical environments, or anywhere where water damage would be very costly.
A sensing cable can be installed under raised floors in data centers, wrapped around pipes, run along walls, etc. Custom solutions are available for any requirement.

Using the WLD sensing cable:

• Placement of the sensing cable must be considered
• WLD system is reliable (no false alarms)
• WLD system is capable of alarm
• Detects the first drops of water along the entire length of the sensing cable
• Sensing zone can be easily covered by combination of sensing & non-sensing cable

WLD system
The real early warning is exactly why having a water leak detection system in place, although much more expensive, is preferred by many. HW group's remote monitoring ecosystem includes several devices based on the unique sensing cable that detects even a few drops of water.

The WLD system works with zones, where each cable, installed even after construction or equipment setup, creates a conductive liquid monitoring zone.

WLD zone(s)

With such a zone, which could be up to 185 meters away from the monitoring device, one could create an effective detection situation by placing the sensing cable right next to the water sources in any type of site, be it a data center, industrial or manufacturing facility, or a warehouse.

With the much faster response to any water presence, this could mean preventing a disaster rather than arriving on site when the damage is already skyrocketing. With the WLD system, what you're buying is time and robust, easy installation within any existing infrastructure.

Early warning of water flooding

The whole idea of why to invest 1000 - 5000 Euro for water detection system against simple water spot detector is based on the assumption that if you react within first minutes, repair costs will be 10x lower compared to 10 cm of water in whole building. 

Every building has a certain capacity of water that can be easily cleaned. You just have to be quick.

In order to respond quickly, you must have:

1. Water sensing cables installed in the right places;
2. Properly configured devices analyzing WLD zones + Portal (optional);
3. Alert escalation + processes;
4. Test the whole system from time to time.

Choosing the Right Water Leak Detection Device

HW group's Water Leak Detection system consists of a WLD sensing cable and a connected alarming device. There are currently 4 different remote monitoring devices with WLD zone input(s). Let's take a look at the differences between them.

	WLD2	SD-WLD	NB-WLD	WLD-Relay
WLD zones	4	1	1	1
NB-IoT (Cellular network)	-	-	yes	-
LAN (RJ45)	yes	yes	-	-
Wi-Fi	yes	yes	-	-
1Wire-UNI (RJ11)	-	-	-	yes
Relay output (NO/NC)	-	-	-	yes

WLD2: Standalone Water Leak Detection

With 4 detection zone inputs (4x 185m of water sensing cable) and PoE / 5V power adapter, the WLD2 is the most universal water detection device. The WLD2 can send email alerts by itself or through an external Portal (SensDesk technology).

4 WLD zones means the WLD2 can detect / identify water in 4 independent areas. 

• Water detection in each zone can be indicated by: 
  • External Relay output (with or without Portal);
  • Email (with or without Portal);
  • SMS / Call (with SMS GW or with Portal).

When customers use the Portal (even free HWg-cloud.com), there can be activated "Device Invalid Alert" feature. The portal will alert you if there is no power / communication with the portal. 

Product web page: https://www.hw-group.com/device/wld2

SD-WLD

The SD-WLD is a simple Water Leak Detection device with only 1 WLD zone input. Powered by PoE / 5V power supply. The SD-WLD is easy to install, there is no local configuration required, but external Portal is mandatory. Device itself can't send alarm emails without Portal.

• SD-WLD can be powered by PoE;
• Portal connectivity is required;
• Portal provides centralized alert management (Email, SMS, Calls, SNMP, Relay Output);
• Portal provides "Device Invalid Alert" feature. The portal will alert you if there is no power/communication with the portal. 

Product web page: https://www.hw-group.com/device/sd-wld

NB-WLD

NB-IoT cellular connected device for remote monitoring of 1 WLD zone (60 / 185 meters of sensing cable). 3-year SIM contract included, battery operation for up to 2 years.
Powered by an internal battery / 5V power supply, the NB-WLD is an ingenious device to warn you, even if there is a power failure at the remote location. External portal is mandatory, device itself can't send alerting emails without the Portal.

• NB-WLD can be powered from internal battery for up to 2 years;
• When powered by internal battery, the maximum WLD zone length is 60m;
• Portal connectivity is required;
• Portal centralized alert management (Email, SMS, Calls, SNMP, Relay Output);
• Portal provides "Device Invalid Alert" feature. The portal will alert you if there is no power/communication with the Portal.

Product web page: https://www.hw-group.com/device/nb-wld

WLD Relay

The WLD Relay is a 1-WLD zone sensing device with 2 output options. Flooding can be indicated by a switching relay output or as a 1-Wire UNI (RJ11) sensor. Via RJ11 it can be connected to many HWg devices with external sensor ports.

• WLD Relay is a universal device (WLD detector) that can be connected to any security system or DI (Dry Contact) on the IP camera, etc;
• Water detection is indicated locally by red LED diode on the device. 

Product web page: https://www.hw-group.com/sensor/sensor-wld-relay-1w-uni

Alerting reality: Every minute counts

We are talking about long-term monitoring sensor installation. That means the customer installs a sensor, tests it, and it sits there quietly for 3-7 years. After that, you need to be alerted and "woken up" within 1-5 minutes. Every minute counts. Here are some best practices: 

• Test the system once a year, that's best practice; 
• Do not use public SMTP server for email alerting (use Portal or private SMTP server);
• Email is not enough;
• Use SMS / Calls for water alerting;
• Use proper names in the WLD zone names; 
• Try to figure out after 7 years what "server room C flooded" is when you're responsible for 3 locations;
• Centralized management (Portal) of alerts is much better; 
• Very few customers change the phone numbers/emails of the recipients in the devices.

 

	WLD2	SD-WLD	NB-WLD	WLD-Relay
SensDesk Portal Connectivity	Yes	Yes (mandatory)	Yes (mandatory)	Via external device
Web interface, SMTP	Yes	Via portal	Via portal	-
E-mail alert	Yes	Via portal	Via portal	-
SMS & Call alert	Via SMS Gateway or Portal	Via portal	Via portal	-
Disconnected device alert	Via portal	Via portal	Via portal	Yes (sensor = -999)
Remote relay alert	Yes	Via portal	Via portal	Via external device
Multigraphs, PDF reports	Via portal	Via portal	Via portal	-
Open API (SNMP, XML)	Yes	Via portal	Via portal	-

Summary of WLD System by HW group

WLD System from HW group will help any customer to safely monitor the remote site for very small amounts of water, and provide timely alerts via various mediums when the liquid is detected.

You can find more details in our summary “Water Leak Detection (WLD) system” article: https://www.hw-group.com/support/water-leak-detection-wld-system

Take a look at the video explaining all the different options of the WLD system.