Why apartment and condo swimming pools need smart water management

May 20, 2021

It’s outdoor pool opening season for a lot of apartments and condos. If you’re like most property managers, you’re probably concerned about things like safety and chlorine levels, but there’s also another sort of risk: water damage and leaks.

A quick Google search with the keywords: leak, pool, apartment, condo, results in a number of news stories about units and common areas below pools that suffered catastrophic water damage. While some accidents are unavoidable, many water damage disasters and surprise high water bills happen after the pool has been silently leaking for years.

Now, property managers at apartments and condos with swimming pools can benefit from smart water management in two ways: water damage avoidance and lower water costs.

Avoiding water damage

The location of the pool will determine the best strategy for avoiding water damage. For rooftop swimming pools, or pools that have units or other common areas below them, it may be possible to place water sensors in strategic areas to detect the first signs of leaks. This includes spaces in the surrounding pool infrastructure or in the pump room where a flood detector can be placed. The instant water touches the water sensor, an alert is sent to your phone. Detecting water immediately can mean the difference between a $250,000 water damage disaster – with costly insurance claims – and no water damage at all.

Children pool uses the most water during night time hours at apartment

The Alert Labs Building Insights Dashboard shows that a children's swimming pool at a condominium uses the most water during the night

Lowering water bills

When it comes to the municipal water line that supplies fresh water to the pool, it’s also possible to monitor water flow minute-by-minute with smart sensors. Monitoring water flow at pools ensures that problems are instantly identified which helps avoid high water bills due to leaking pipes or valves being left open, for example.

Early detection of water problems is not just important for monitoring swimming pools for leaks and floods, it’s also crucial to asset preservation and lowering operational expenses. A water management strategy that involves smart water sensors should be part of every property manager’s toolkit.

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Hidden leaks due to pools, cooling towers or other water systems in multi-family buildings can be detected and resolved faster with AlertAQ™.