Is there a leak in the basement? Did a pipe burst? Is the AC dripping? Before you run down to check, what if instead you received an alert on your phone? Using an Adafruit FunHouse, a water sensor, and WipperSnapper, this can be accomplished in minutes (and with no coding)!

In this guide, we’ll set up a water sensor inside Adafruit’s factory. In the AC (Air Conditioning) room, the units drip lots of water in the summertime. We’ll place our water sensor and FunHouse inside the room under one of the units, then if the floor is ever wet, the facilities team will get an email notification alerting the presence of water. This will help prevent water damage before it’s too late. And it can be done without a single line of code thanks to WipperSnapper and AdafruitIO.

Prerequisite Guide:

WipperSnapper is an interface for Adafruit IO, Adafruit's incredibly easy-to-use IoT platform, designed to turn any WiFi-capable board into an IoT device without programming a single line of code.

If you've never used WipperSnapper, click below to read through the Quickstart WipperSnapper guide before continuing.

Project Materials

Software:

In order to send email notifications within AdafruitIO, you will need an AdafruitIO Plus account. There are two options to choose from, a monthly or yearly membership. There is a way to do this project without a Plus membership but it is not recommended.

Parts

Other materials:

• Scotch tape or similar
• Power extension cable
• Zip ties

Plug the jumper extension cables into the pins of the water sensor. Connect the other ends of the jumper cable to the jumper end of the Stemma cable.

How does it work?

The sensor has a very lightly biased transistor that is connected to two long sets of interlocking traces. When a little bit of water/condensation lands on the PCB and touches two of the traces, the transistor will turn on, setting the output pin high. 

Step 1 is to get your Funhouse set up in the Adafruit IO WipperSnapper page. Follow the instructions in the previously mentioned Quickstart guide to do this. 

Set Up the Water Sensor

Test the IR Sensor

Next, test out the water sensor to verify it's working properly.

• Try dipping the tip of the sensor into a cup of water.
• Check the WipperSnapper device page to see if the value changes from wet to dry for your sensor.

Troubleshooting the Sensor

If you are not receiving feedback from the sensor verify the following:

• The sensor is correctly wired according to the directions on the "Add the Water Sensor" page
• The Stemma cable is connected to the A2 pin on the FunHouse

Now that we have the sensor set up, it is time to link it to an email to get notifications when there's a leak.

Create a New Action

Test it Out

Try dipping the sensor in the water again, and you should get an email!

Can't Upgrade to IO+?

If you can't upgrade to IO+, you can use the website If This Then That to send yourself an email when the sensor is triggered. The main downside is that the email does not reliably get sent at the moment the sensor is triggered. Sometimes there can be a delay of multiple hours or more, so it is not recommended.

Find a good spot to place the sensor wherever you'd like to check for water.

In the summer in NYC, the AC in the building housing Adafruit can release quite a bit of water from under each unit. The metal barrier around the unit is designed to keep the water from leaking out and the white pump sucks out the water that's contained. On especially humid days in the summer, the water can sometimes overflow out of this chamber faster than the pump can handle. It will be helpful to have an alert system set up the moment water starts to pool so that any water damage from a potential overflow can be prevented quickly. 

Here's a good spot to place the FunHouse. The magnetic feet that screw onto the back effectively hold the FunHouse where we'd like it.

Power

After picking a good spot for the sensor, consider where the nearest outlet is. You will likely need an extension cable to power the sensor where you're planning to place it.

Try to avoid running the cable on the ground as any leaks may cause issues with power.

Once you know far it is from the outlet to your sensor, lay the extension cable down. Use zip ties to lock the cable in place.

Once the extension cable is in place, power up the FunHouse and zip tie the USB C cable in place.

Use some tape to position the sensor so that it is just touching the floor but is upright.

Once, it's all set up and powered on, make sure to check once more that the email system is working. 

There you have it!