While leaks often seemed to appear suddenly and without warning, the property management team understood from experience that most incidents could be traced back to a specific failure point—often days or even weeks before the damage became visible. Past cases had involved everything from faulty toilet flaps and unattended sinks to failing diverter valves at the suite-level water entry points.
This valuable insight was largely thanks to a proactive and highly competent on-site building manager. However, his role remained fundamentally reactive—limited to addressing problems after they had already caused disruption or damage.
What the team really needed was a smarter, more proactive solution: a system that could deliver early warnings and high-confidence notifications of developing issues, enabling intervention before leaks turned into costly repairs or tenant inconvenience.
Orca Water deployed its non-intrusive, tamper-resistant clamp-on monitoring system, which uses high-resolution acoustic sensing combined with machine learning to detect anomalous water flow patterns. Orca WaterTag™ sensors were installed at strategic locations, including toilets, kitchen sinks, washing machines, and dishwashers; points typically associated with common failure modes in residential plumbing.
By capturing real-time data at these key sites, the system allowed for more comprehensive leak detection and a better understanding of how and where problems develop. Subtle issues—like a slow leak from a deteriorating valve or inconsistent appliance flow—could be flagged well before becoming visible or causing damage.
This approach gave the building operations team a much earlier warning window and the ability to intervene before a small water issue became a major event, improving both maintenance efficiency and overall risk management.
Since deployment, the monitoring system has not only detected conventional leaks but has also identified irregularities in fixtures and appliances exhibiting abnormal behaviors—such as extended flow durations or unexpected flow patterns. Key findings included:
Residents and tenants now receive both SMS and email notifications when abnormal water activity is detected, delivered through an escalating sequence based on the severity and duration of the event. Each alert includes traceable data, allowing users and building staff to review the exact time an anomaly occurred, how long it persisted, and when it was resolved. This visibility not only improves response times but also enables a permanent record of issues which are helpful for repair, prevention, and insurance.
All data is automatically logged and visualized through a centralized dashboard, giving property managers real-time visibility into water usage and system health across the building. This has enabled faster decision-making, more targeted maintenance, and a measurable reduction in water-related risk—while keeping both owners and residents better informed and protected.
