Leak Monitoring FAQs
Roles: Admin, Technician
Last updated: May 2025
Leak Sensors should be installed in any location where a leak will cause damage and may go unnoticed. Common locations are in utility closets, under sinks, dishwashers, and refrigerators.
If multiple Water Detection Cables are used, detection can be extended to more than one zone using a single Leak Sensor. Up to 3 Targeted or Rope Sense Cables can be daisy-chained together.
Leak Sensors can be installed in any area where plumbing leaks can occur and cause damage. Sensors are especially important in locations where leaks may go unnoticed. Common locations are in utility closets, under sinks, dishwashers, and refrigerators.
To reduce false alarms, avoid wrapping rope cables around plumbing supply or drain lines that may collect condensation. Instead, secure the rope cable on the floor below these lines.
Leak Sensors can also detect inline leaks when paired with Mini Turbines in the Toilet Leak Sensor application.
A full guide can be found on our Leak Monitoring Installation page.
Your property will need one Gateway which will provide cloud-connectivity to your Leak Sensors. In most apartment building types, one Repeater is needed for every 30-60 apartment units.
If your property is already using NextCentury equipment for tracking utility usage, then the existing Gateway is compatible with the Leak Sensors. Additional Repeaters are only needed if Leak Sensors are installed beyond the existing RF coverage area, or if there was already insufficient RF coverage.
Our Product Support Team can evaluate your property and provide recommendations.
When water is detected, the Leak Sensor will send a message to the cloud which then will trigger any text, phone, or email notifications that have been enabled. An audible chirp will alert you to the location of the leak.
After the problem is resolved, the rope cable may take up to 30 minutes to dry out, at which point the audible chirp will stop. Using a towel to remove any standing water will reduce this time.
When water is detected, an audible chirp will sound.
Additionally, the Leak Sensor will immediately send this alert to the cloud through the Leak Monitoring Service, notifying any property manager or maintenance staff which have been added as contacts.
The Leak Monitoring Service provides property owners and managers a dashboard view of equipment connectivity, health, and alert status for all protected units.
This property leak management solution includes specialized alerting through email, text, and phone to ensure that leaks are caught quickly to reduce the risk of property damage.
The NextCentury Leak Sensors are used with the comprehensive Leak Monitoring Service to provide property owners and managers a dashboard view of equipment health and alert status for all protected units. This property leak management solution includes specialized alerting through email, text, and phone to ensure that leaks are caught quickly to reduce potential property damage.
Stand-alone Leak Sensors can detect leaks and sound an audible alarm. NextCentury network equipment and the Leak Monitoring Service subscription are required for cloud management and notifications.
The Leak Sensor is unable to have a Data Resolution higher than every 6 Hours. This is because a Leak Sensor is designed to check in immediately after it detects a leak. The check-in time is only to check if the device is still able to be read from the Gateway.
If you are looking to test the check-in quality you can put the device in Rapid Check-in Mode by pressing the red button inside the device 5 times quickly.
The device can be put into Rapid Check-in Mode by pressing the red button inside 5 times quickly.
Your Billing Company or Installer can initially add one or more property contacts for access to your property web portal.
If you already have access to the property portal and would like to add additional contacts, select the gear icon to add or remove other contacts.
If you are no longer the correct contact for receiving notifications and managing alerts, click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the latest notification email you have received.
Alternatively you can view the full list of alert contacts for your property and make adjustments at property.nextcenturymeters.com.
The Leak Sensor used with the Rope Cable will detect standing water anywhere along the length of the cable. A leak of any size that creates at least some standing water along the length of the cable will be detected.
The Targeted Cable will detect any standing water that touches its contact points. A leak of any size that creates at least some standing water at this installed point will be detected.
The Leak Sensor detects any standing water present on the Rope Cable or Targeted Cable contacts. If after inspection, water is not found be sure to double check that the Leak Sensor’s serial number matches the unit and location for which the alert was received.
The website alert details will display the specific timing of when water was first detected, at what level, and when and if the location is now dry. These details may be helpful in determining why the alert was triggered.
The Leak Sensor converts the pulse history to a generic usage and sends a 24-hour history of usage to the Gateway in each message. The 6 hours leading up the normal check-in is stored in 5 minute intervals (72 usage records), and the other 18 hours is stored in 30 minute intervals (36 usage records). The Gateway passes these reads up to the NextCentury cloud which then analyzes the usage history to determine whether a toilet is leaking.
The Toilet Leak Sensor Kit includes a 7/8” Mini-Turbine Meter for inline leak detection. The flow sensor can be attached to any 7/8” inline pipe.