How to avoid water damage in the home

With recent catastrophic rainfall causing massive damage to homes and civic infrastructure, it’s clear we need a better approach to rainwater management. At the same time, it is possible to avoid water damage in the home. And if you don’t think that’s a big deal, have a word with your insurance agent, or better yet, anyone who’s lived through a flooded basement, and lost precious family mementos to water damage.

Moen has answered the need with the Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff, a device that attaches to a home’s main water supply line, continually monitoring potential water abnormalities.

The device (shown above) learns the unique water usage patterns of the home and can sense leaks as small as one drop per minute, along with other potential issues. If it detects an abnormality in usage or the beginnings of a catastrophic leak, it can automatically shut off the water supply.

For more protection, there’s the Smart Leak Detector, a standalone sensor that can be placed in water-prone areas, and works alone or with Flo. Kudos to the product designer who envisioned its compact, attractive tear-dropped shape that’s discrete and design-friendly (below left).

Connected to a Moen Smart Faucet or similar fixture, Flo can help homeowners shut down a residential water system safely and conveniently for holiday or seasonal purposes

I’ll feature the faucets and fixtures in an upcoming post. And I’ll close this one post with an image of one I’m really drawn to – the Smyth faucet in bronzed gold. A lovely shape, and a beautiful tone. Hard for me to decide if I love it more in this finish or a quietly sophisticated matte black.