Don Y wrote:
On 8/27/2015 7:18 PM, Pavel314 wrote:
I was down in the basement watering the mushrooms this evening and
noticed that the water pressure (we're on a well) was a bit low. I
asked my wife if she'd left the sprinkler on the garden and she had,
so she went out and turned it off.

I wondered if there was some sort of device that would detect water
flowing from the outside faucet and light a warning light in the
house if the water were left on. Maybe something that fits onto the
faucet with the hose connecting to the detector gizmo. Flowing water
would lower the pressure in the line and flip a switch to turn on
the light.

I use a pair of precision flow meters to monitor water consumption,
here; one for indoor water use (i.e., toilet has a slow leak, washing
machine has ruptured a hose, etc.), the other for outdoor (primarily
irrigation).
The problem is always deciding how *low* of a flow rate you want to
sense. E.g., if you've got a garden hose trying to fill your swimming
pool, the flow rate (pressure drop) is obviously *considerable*! OTOH, if
you've got a trickle of water flowing at the base of a tree
(so it has a chance to slowly "sink in"), then the flow rate is
considerably lower.
[The flow meters that I've found are *really* expensive]

Can I suggest a simpler, cheaper solution -- one that probably also
gives you the benefit of remembering to turn off the water on those
occasions when you *forget*?

Use a solenoid operated valve to control the water from the hose bibb.
Control the valve with a simple timer. When you want to water, set
the timer for, e.g., 30 minutes. If you decide to stop the water
before the timer expires, then just shut off the timer when you shut
off the water. If you want the water to run for longer, you'll have
to extend the time on the timer. If you *forget* to turn off the
water, the timer will limit your "exposure".

[You can buy timers that screw onto a hose bibb and allow you to
attach a garden hose on the "output" of the timer. These can even
be programmed to turn the water on for X minutes each day, etc.]

I've added 4 hose bibbs around the periphery of the property, here
(initially needed to keep the irrigation water from passing through
the water softener -- wastes salt *and* bad for the plants!). The
water supply line to each valve is gated with a ~$15 electrically
operated irrigation valve. When I want/need water, I tell the
appropriate valve to turn on, then set the "faucet" to the desired
flow rate.

Has anyone heard of such a thing?


There is a device called a "flow switch". They do require a certain flow rate to
work.