The Challenge
Every year, over one trillion gallons of water vanish—wasted—in American homes and commercial buildings. This staggering amount could supply the entire United States with drinking water for two years. The cost isn’t just environmental; it’s financial, with high water bills, property damage, insurance claims, and disrupted businesses piling up.
Catching leaks early is essential, but there’s a problem: manually monitoring water use isn’t just tedious; in many cases, it’s impossible. Alert Labs set out to change that, introducing an innovative Internet of Things (IoT) solution for real-time water monitoring and leak detection. And at the heart of this breakthrough? Particle’s cellular connectivity, enabling reliable, scalable leak alerts in over 12,000 buildings across North America.
About AlertAQ™
The AlertAQ™ Water Intelligence Platform is a sophisticated system that combines smart water sensors with intelligent cloud analytics. These sensors, powered by batteries or plug-in connections with backup power, communicate via LoRa to the Alert Labs Sensor Relay. The Sensor Relay uses LTE-M cellular networks to transmit data directly to the AlertAQ™ cloud.
But the magic doesn’t stop there. Machine learning algorithms dive deep into the data, analyzing patterns to detect unusual water flow or potential leaks. When anomalies occur, real-time alerts are sent to facility team members’ phones, ensuring swift action.
Leveraging Particle's IoT Connectivity
Scaling AlertAQ™ across thousands of buildings isn’t just a challenge—it’s a necessity. Reliable, low-power, wide-area connections are the backbone of this effort. Wi-Fi networks, while common, aren’t ideal for retrofits and often struggle with dead zones. Basements, water meter pits, and other prime leak detection areas typically fall into these Wi-Fi blind spots.
Enter LTE-M cellular connectivity. It handles these dynamic conditions with ease, offering better coverage and simplifying installation by eliminating the need for on-site gateways.
By integrating Particle’s carrier-certified hardware and cloud platform, AlertAQ™ achieves seamless, large-scale deployments. The Alert Labs Sensor Relay, powered by Particle, acts as a plug-and-play access point, connecting LoRa-based sensors to the cloud over LTE-M networks. These networks are designed to optimize battery life while keeping costs low.
And there’s more: robust security protocols ensure data is protected, making the Sensor Relay an excellent choice for commercial and institutional buildings where privacy and security are paramount. Particle’s global SIMs and partnerships with major carriers further streamline connectivity, eliminating roadblocks to deployment.
With an edge-to-cloud platform that’s already trusted by top enterprises, Particle frees the Alert Labs team to focus on what they do best—innovating sensor hardware and analytics. The result? Faster deployments, reduced complexities, and a system that just works.
Alert Labs Solution in real life
A luxurious multi-family building, home to over 400 apartments, features retail spaces on the ground floor, an onsite gym, and penthouse suites with bespoke finishes. This Class A property is a significant investment, requiring a state-of-the-art water leak detection system to prevent costly water damage. Enter AlertAQ™ and Alert Labs smart water sensors—a proactive solution protecting these high-value assets
The Incident: Condensate Leak from HVAC System
On a sweltering, humid night, the condensate drain pan in the HVAC system located above a penthouse began to overflow. Unnoticed by residents, water quietly trickled down, seeping through ceilings and walls, causing significant water damage below.
In the early morning hours, just as the water touched the Alert Labs water leak sensors, the building’s maintenance supervisor received an automated phone call from AlertAQ™. The message provided critical details: the precise location of the leak and the urgency of the situation. Despite some delay in arriving on-site, the supervisor quickly identified the issue—a clogged drain pan—and resolved it, halting further water damage.
Without the early detection enabled by AlertAQ™, this incident could have spiraled into catastrophic damage, impacting over ten luxury apartment units.
The Outcome: Over $5,000,000 Saved
For a building of this caliber, with high-end finishes and premium amenities, the repair costs could easily have exceeded a million dollars. Thanks to AlertAQ™, the damage was contained, saving the building owners, residents, and insurers from massive financial losses.
The benefits extended beyond immediate cost savings:
- Residents avoided disruption from invasive repairs.
- The facility management team evaded out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles and potential increases in insurance premiums due to extensive claims.
- Water loss prevention strategies were strengthened, showcasing the system’s effectiveness.
A Wider Impact: Reducing Water Loss Claims
This building is just one of many protected by Alert Labs, with a national insurance carrier leveraging their technology to prevent water damage across properties. To date, this partnership has resulted in over $80M in savings from averted water damage claims.
Whether it’s safeguarding luxury apartments, preserving tenant satisfaction, or improving bottom-line results for insurers, AlertAQ™ demonstrates how innovative technology can transform water loss prevention into measurable value.