How do I install my water sensor?

To add a water sensor you must have a regular energy or advanced solar Powersensor kit installed, you can then simply add the water sensor to your existing kit. 

Once you have been accepted into the Powersensor water beta trial, using your Powersensor account email address our support team will enable the water sensor feature in App for your account. 

Preparing to install your water sensor

1. Charge the battery of your new sensor before proceeding with the installation.
2. Locate and familiarise yourself with your water meter
3. Check your water meter for possible install locations - examples of potential installation are provided here

Installation steps

Water-sensors can only be added to an existing Powersensor setup or after you have completed the Powersensor setup of a new kit.

1. We recommend installing the WiFi Plug first. Position the WiFi plug at an AC power outlet nearest to the water meter.  The WiFi Plug acts as a Bleutooth to WiFi relay for your water-sensor.  Note the plug is rated for indoor use only.  
2. Go to the Devices screen in your App and tap on “Install a new plug” to pair the plug to your account and connect it to your WiFi network. 
3. You can now proceed to pair your water-sensor.  Go to the Devices screen in your App and tap on “Install a new sensor” and then select “water sensor”.
4. Follow the in-app directions to pair your water-sensor to your account and connect it to your WiFi network. Once the sensor is connected to your WiFi network, take the sensor and adhesive fasteners to attach it to your water meter. 
5. Identify the best location to install - for the ideal sensor install location, position the sensor between the plastic plug on the side of the meter and the register dial, as shown in the image below.
   
   
   
   
6. Remove the blue silicone strap from the sensor before attaching to the water meter.
7. Using the adhesive fasteners, attach the sensor to the water meter.
8. The app will guide you through to the ‘Test signal strength’ button in the app to verify the sensor is working in the final position. You should receive three green ticks. If your sensor fails the signal strength test for WiFi hit proceed anyway. You can verify your sensor is working correctly after the installation at step 11 below.
9. Configure the water meter scale. Typically, 4 red digits on the water meter = 1 litre/revolution, 3 red digits = 10 litres/revolution. It will take approximately 10 litres of water to calibrate the water-sensor. One shower, dishwasher or washing machine load is enough.
   If you need to reconfigure the water meter scale later, go to Devices, select the water-sensor, and tap on the water meter scale.
10. Follow the in app instructions and take a photo of your water meter.
11. Verify that your sensor is operating correctly by checking for water flow on the sparkline of the Devices screen.  You will need to have water running for the sparkline to show a flow.  If you observe a flow your sensor is working correctly. If you do not see a flow on the sparkline your sensor may be out of Bluetooth range of your plug.

How does sensor Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity impact the App user experience?

Ideally your sensor is within Bluetooth range of your WiFi Plug and within WiFi range of your WiFi access point.  For the App to display water data the sensor must be within either Bluetooth or WiFi range. The water sensors relies on wireless connectively in the following ways:

Bluetooth only: live water updates are transmitted between the sensor and the Bluetooth-WiFI relay plug to the App.  This means the sparkline and historic views in the App will display data. 

WiFi only: If the sensor is out of Bluetooth range however has WiFi connectivity to your access point, only historic water data is available in the App.  

Refer to the Powersensor Help Centre for troubleshooting.

Watch the water monitoring installation video via the link below!

Safety

Powersensor contains a Lithium ion battery.  Please be mindful when maintaining your lawn or garden, especially  when using a lawn mower, whipper snipper or other sharp gardening equipment - which may come into contact and damage your Powersensor water monitoring sensor.

Do not use the Powersensor if there is physical damage to the housing as the internal lithium ion battery may pose a safety or fire hazard if damaged.