Flume Intelligent Water Sensor

[jacobegan]

That’s great news! Thank you for sharing. I’m looking forward to your solution.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mterry63]

I worked through the API documentation yesterday. Thankfully, most of the data needed is static. Flume has a reasonable documentation site that walks you through the process of authentication and getting data. The only 2 dynamic pieces you need are the authentication token (what they call a bearer token) and a refresh token that is used to refresh the bearer token as it's good for 7 days.

You also need user_id, device_id, client_id, client_secret, username, and password. The last 2 are from your sign-up account, and the 2 prior to that are provided when you generate the API key. You can get the user_id and device_id with the Flume API documentation, and they are static, so once you have them you don't need the API any further except to pull data and refresh the authentication key every 7 days.

The output of the Flume API is all JSON, so it appears to be ideal for Big5. I've worked out the Big5 parsing in the Big5 "sandbox" and just need to setup the events. I hope to finish all that by this weekend and will post details.

This exercise has allowed me to expand my horizons on Big5, it will be useful for other data as well.

[gbdesai]

No offense to Big5, maybe I don't know how to use it well, but it seems cumbersome for something like this based on my current experience.

Some in the HomeAssistant/Flume forum, someone using HomeAssistant wrote this for Flume...

https://github.com/michaeldavie/flume-sensor

It's in Python, he's keeping it updated it seems. Wish HS supported other languages. Maybe this could be converted to VB.script at a min.

G

P.S. I never even heard about HomeAssistant before today

[mterry63]

You've gotten farther along than I have. I did install Big5 (I already owned it but never installed it) and started reading the API docs.

[gbdesai]

I haven't installed Big5 yet to see if the API can provide what I need. For now I just visit the flume website. It's on my list of things to do.

I was able to get Big5 to make the first call to return your personal access token. Last time I programmed was 20+ years ago. The API requires some interesting calls which I haven't had the time to understand...

[jacobegan]

Good questions, I’ve only noticed notifications coming from mailbox@

The body of the message contains the rule name as it’s listed on flume. In my example it’s .1 per 120. I just named the notification .1 per 120 as in .10 gal per 120 minutes.

This method is working well so far. I did have to increase the time on the flume alerts, apparently we use a lot of water in the evening and it causes false positives.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[alphatech]

jacobegan, that is a great tip, thank you. I have noticed that Flume is using two sets of emails, support@flumetech.com and mailbox@flumewater.com. Do you know why?
In the body of the message, do you need to put the entire message or just the beginning of the body of the email? I see you using only 1 per 120, curious what is that?

[jacobegan]

My main objective was to get notified of leaks and turn the valve off. To do this, I setup an E-mail notification, homeseer is checking the mailbox, taking appropriate action if the E-mail is received. This eliminated the need for connecting to any API or adding additional plugins. I've attached a sample event that i created. I've tested it and working well.. In the test I set the flume device to notify me after 4 minutes of running water, then homeseer checked the E-mail account, ran the event that specified to speak an alert - through the living room tablet, send me an E-mail, turn off the valve. In the event HS fails to turn off the Zwave water valve, I get another alert from flume letting me know it was unsuccessful.

[mterry63]

I haven't installed Big5 yet to see if the API can provide what I need. For now I just visit the flume website. It's on my list of things to do.

[jacobegan]

Any update on this - were you able to get information from flume, pulled into HS?

[Wade]

Not to revive an old thread, but I recently purchased and installed one of these flume units in our new home in Texas, with the incentive of a rebate of the full cost by the Water Utility. They have a web portal as well as the phone app, as well as a personal API. Since I own but have never used the Big5 PI maybe I'll give it a shot with this. Lots of good detail on water usage. With a new pool and irrigation system I need to keep an eye on water usage.

Keep us posted. Haven't gotten around to any integration yet so very interested in what you come up with.

[mterry63]

Not to revive an old thread, but I recently purchased and installed one of these flume units in our new home in Texas, with the incentive of a rebate of the full cost by the Water Utility. They have a web portal as well as the phone app, as well as a personal API. Since I own but have never used the Big5 PI maybe I'll give it a shot with this. Lots of good detail on water usage. With a new pool and irrigation system I need to keep an eye on water usage.

[Tomgru]

You're not going to like this answer. 90 ft. But as I said previously, it's inside a cast iron meter box that's in-ground and immediately behind a 12" solid stone masonry wall, then the hub is inside the house (not near a window, unfortunately) that is stone masonry exterior and cement plaster interior with steel lath. Probably not much for you to base a purchase decision on.

This said, if they advertise up to 1000', it seems like 350' might be worth a try if you have reasonably clear line of site.

that's what I figured. I need a shutoff as well... looking at some other systems ( I posted a thread on this a few months back) that have both and were recommended by my insurance company (PURE)… but much, much more expensive. Granted, this may not be the area you want to go cheap on

[Wade]

This looks pretty interesting, as it says the sensor can be 1000 feet from the bridge. I have a long driveway that is somewhere near 350 feet up a steep hill where the water meter is located. Wade how far is your meter from the bridge?

You're not going to like this answer. 90 ft. But as I said previously, it's inside a cast iron meter box that's in-ground and immediately behind a 12" solid stone masonry wall, then the hub is inside the house (not near a window, unfortunately) that is stone masonry exterior and cement plaster interior with steel lath. Probably not much for you to base a purchase decision on.

This said, if they advertise up to 1000', it seems like 350' might be worth a try if you have reasonably clear line of site.

[Tomgru]

This looks pretty interesting, as it says the sensor can be 1000 feet from the bridge. I have a long driveway that is somewhere near 350 feet up a steep hill where the water meter is located. Wade how far is your meter from the bridge?