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US 11,530,531 B2Granted
Water management, metering, leak detection, water analytics and remote shutoff system
AssigneeSaya Life, Inc.
InventorsSanjay Poojary, Naveen Kumar Subramani, Noorali Lakhani, Chongliang Li
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A water management system effective for managing and metering water usage and detecting and reducing water leaks is described herein. The water management system can detect a leak when a volume of water flow or change in water pressure detected by a water meter of the system is uncharacteristic for a given day and time of day at the node. Upon detecting the leak, the system alerts the user, and in some situations, remotely shuts off a water supply to preemptively address a water leakage issue.
Claims19
A leak monitoring system (100) effective for detecting and stopping a water leak and detecting water anomalies, the system comprising:
- a. a water meter (103) inline to a main water valve (101), wherein the water meter (103) is configured to provide water usage data to a collector unit (107);
- b. the collector unit (107), wherein the collector unit (107) aggregates said water usage data into a first set of data;
- c. a system processor (109) coupled to the collector unit (107), wherein the first set of data is transmitted by the collector unit (107) to the system processor (109) where the first set of data is organized and synthesized resulting in a second set of data;
- and
- d. a remote database (111) wirelessly coupled to the system processor (109) for storing the first set of data and the second set of data,
- wherein upon installation, the collector unit (107) performs an initial calibration,
- wherein the initial calibration is a continuous collection of information received from the water meter (103) describing a water usage, wherein the continuous collection of data lasts for a predetermined time period resulting in an update of the first set of data, wherein the update is transmitted by the collector unit (107) to the system processor (109), wherein the update of the first set of data is organized and synthesized by the system processor (109) to produce an update of the second set of data, wherein the update of the second set of data is used to create a user signature characterizing the water usage of a user, wherein the user signature is stored in the remote database (111);
- e. a valve actuator (105) operatively coupled to the main water valve (101), wherein the valve actuator (105) is configured to open or close the main water valve (101), wherein the valve actuator (105) is wirelessly coupled to the system processor (109);
- and
- f. a user electronic device (113) configured to access the system processor (109), wherein communication between the user electronic device (113) and the system processor (109) is accomplished via a telecommunications network,
- wherein after the initial calibration produces the user signature, a continuous calibration monitors water usage and the first set of data is continuously updated, wherein the updated first set of data is compared to the user signature by the system processor (109) to detect a leak,
- wherein when the leak is detected, the system processor (109) notifies the user electronic device (113), wherein the user indicates to the system processor (109) via the user electronic device (113) whether or not to close the main water valve, wherein the user may optionally shut off a source of the leak manually or permit the system processor (109) to remotely shut off the main water valve via the valve actuator, thereby stopping the leak.
9 more elements
A method for alerting a user of a potential leak in a water system and identifying an actual leak, the method comprising:
- a. installing a leak monitoring system (100) to the water system, said leak monitoring system comprising:
- i. a water meter (103) inline to a main water valve (101), wherein the water meter (103) is configured to provide water usage data to a collector unit (107);
- ii. a remote database (111) wirelessly coupled to a system processor (109) for storing the water usage data;
- iii. the system processor (109);
- and
- iv. the collector unit (107) coupled to the system processor (109);
- b. performing an initial calibration using the collector unit (107) for a predetermined day and time of day, to determine a water usage by the water system;
- c. the performing an initial calibration includes continuously capturing, using the collector unit (107), one or more of volume of water flow, water pressure, water temperature, and flow rates before and after a water consumption event;
- d. determining a user signature using the system processor (109), said user signature based on the one or more of the volume of water flow, the water pressure, the water temperature, and flow rates;
- e. performing continuous calibration using the collector unit (107) to monitor the water usage by the water system after the initial calibration;
- f. the performing continuous calibration includes deducing an overconsumption, via the system processor (109), and alerting the user of the overconsumption and the potential leak via a user electronic device (113), in response to a measurement deviating beyond a threshold derived from the user signature, the measurement comprising the one or more of volume of water flow, the water pressure, and the water temperature, and the flow rates;
- g. generating an overconsumption report using the system processor (109) thereby allowing for the user to effectively monitor the water usage;
- h. confirming the potential leak is the actual leak in response to the overconsumption lasting for longer than a threshold time, thereby allowing for the user to preemptively address the potential leak;
- and
- i. sending an alert to the user electronic device (113) indicating a leak has been detected and automatically shutting off a main water valve (101) of the water system (100), remotely, after a set time interval has passed, wherein the set time interval is preset by the user.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.