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Understanding and Utilizing Flow Meter Alerts for Pipes

Kadee Petty avatar
Written by Kadee Petty
Updated over 2 years ago

Overview

Flow Meter alerts are a powerful tool for monitoring your water usage, providing valuable insights into your flow meter's functioning.

Flow Meter Alert Types

We currently offer two types of flow meter alerts:

  1. Flow Rate

  2. Flow Volume in a Rolling Window

We will soon be introducing a third type: Flow Volume in a Fixed Window.

Flow Volume in a Rolling Window

Flow volume alerts generate notifications based on your flow meter's readings. They're designed to help you monitor your water usage within a rolling window of time, alerting you when the water volume is higher or lower than a predefined limit.

Customizing the Rolling Window

You can select the period for the rolling window based on your specific needs. For example, if you want to track your water usage over a day, you can set a 24-hour window.

To accommodate different farming needs, we've established the following time period options:

  • 6 hours

  • 12 hours

  • 24 hours

  • 7 days

  • 30 days

However, to ensure accuracy and consider transmission intervals, the minimum window for flow volume alerts is set at 6 hours. This means the shortest total volume examined before an alert is triggered will be a 6-hour window.

Types of Flow Volume Alerts High

Flow Volume Alert

This alert is triggered when the water volume reaches or exceeds a certain limit within the selected time frame. For example, you can set an alert to be triggered if the volume is >= 26,417 gal within the last 3 days.

Low Flow Volume Alert

Conversely, this alert is activated when the water volume falls below or equals a certain limit in your chosen time period. An example would be setting an alert to trigger when the volume is <= 0 gal in the last 12 hours.

Re-triggering Volume Alerts

There are two scenarios in which an alert will re-trigger:

  1. After the time period elapses: If the volume remains above or below the threshold for the set period, the alert will be re-triggered after that period elapses again. For instance, if you have set an alert for when the flow volume drops to <= 26 gal for 24 hours, and the volume remains below 26 gal, the alert will re-trigger every 24 hours until the situation changes.

  2. When the volume 'recovers' and then re-meets criteria: In this case, if the volume returns to normal and then crosses the threshold again, the alert will re-trigger. For instance, if the volume exceeds 10,567 gal in 24 hours (triggering the first alert), drops below 10,567 gal (suggesting the issue has been resolved), and then exceeds 10,567 gal again, the alert will re-trigger.

Flow Rate Alerts

A sudden increase in flow rate could indicate a leak or burst pipe, leading to significant water loss and potential infrastructure damage. On the other hand, a decrease could indicate a blockage or issue with the water supply, which could pose a risk to the health and welfare of your livestock if not promptly addressed.

High Flow Rate Alert

This alert is triggered when the flow rate reaches or exceeds a certain limit. For example, you can set an alert to be triggered if the rate is >= 5,283 gal/min.

Low Flow Rate Alert

Conversely, this alert is activated when the flow rate falls below a certain limit. An example would be setting an alert to trigger when the rate is <= 26 gal/min.

Re-triggering Flow Rate Alerts

Flow Rate Alerts follow a slightly different re-triggering logic than Flow Volume Alerts. A Flow Rate Alert will only re-trigger after 7 days if the flow rate remains above or below the trigger level. This gives you ample time to address the issue before being reminded of the ongoing condition.

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