Prevention Instead of Renovation: Radio-Controlled Shut-Off Valve

It takes little effort and investment to avoid major water damage in apartments, houses or company buildings – and without tearing open walls and causing noise and dirt. Radio-controlled, battery-less water sensors placed on the floors of rooms (containing, for example, water pipes, bathtubs, showers, washing machines, dishwashers, washbasins, toilets, etc.) detect leaks and send a signal to a motorised shut-off valve which, in turn, shuts off the water pipe to keep further water from escaping. 

The new motorised, radio-controlled shut-off valve WaterControl 01 from AFRISO (Germany) remotely closes and opens water pipes in frost-free rooms. WaterControl consists of a robust control unit with integrated EnOcean wireless module as well as a ball valve (approved for drinking water as per DVGW) with an electric motor. The system is available for various pipe diameters with the following connection threads: G¾, G1, G1¼ and G1½ (female thread). The control unit, which can be supplied with 100-240 V AC, supplies the electric motor of the ball valve with 24 V DC by means of a pre-connected cable. WaterControl 01 is suitable for ambient temperatures from –10 °C to 50 °C and water temperatures from 4 °C to 80 °C and can be operated via the keypad with status display of the control unit and via EnOcean wireless. WaterControl 01 offers a range of possibilities because it can be connected to several devices at the same time, for example, to an EnOcean centre, to the water sensors "Watersensor con" and "Watersensor eco" as well as to EnOcean ON/OFF switches. Teaching in the device is easy and takes just a few seconds. Users with mobile devices such as smartphones or tablet PCs can open and close the shut-off valve via an EnOcean from anywhere in the world. The water sensors automatically monitor the rooms in which they are positioned for leaking water and close the shut-off valve. An EnOcean ON/OFF switch that can simply be glued onto the wallpaper and that generates its energy from the press of a button can be used to open and close the valve, depending on whether the user wants to leave the house (for an extended period of time) or has come back home. AFRISO will equip further products with the new EnOcean wireless technology, for example, the alarm and monitoring units of the WATCHDOG series.