A few weeks back I installed Floodbuster Electronic water alarms throughout my house. ‘Installed’ is probably over-complicating the procedure, to ‘install’ the Floodbuster is to remove it from the box, inserted the battery and then just placed in the location you want it, it’s that easy. I purchased a family pack of 3 x Floodbusters and placed them in areas I knew to be potentially high risk for undetected water leaks. The first unit was placed behind my washing machine, which in my home is on the first floor, if there was a leak here then the damage could be substantial. Unfortunately I’ve fallen foul of a leaking washing machine before, several years back I moved into a second floor condo, and after a week of enjoying my new pad, the downstairs neighbour who had been on vacation knocked on my door to say that he’d returned from Mexico to find the ceiling in his kitchen had collapsed due to water damage, the cause was a leaky pipe on my washing machine, obviously not a great start to our neighbourly friendship. Having experienced water damage and the associated cost and stress caused, when the Floodbuster became available I was one of the first to purchase it.

In addition to behind my washing machine, I placed a Floodbuster below my kitchen sink, and the final Floodbuster was placed underneath my water boiler. Floodbusters will sit dormant, like little water watchmen protecting you home until, for whatever reason a leak occurs. The clever little Floodbuster will also let you know when its battery needs replacing, and that’s not very regular at all.

Having almost forgotten about my little watchmen, I returned home from work yesterday to hear an unusual alarm noise from the kitchen. My natural instinct was to think it was a smoke or CO alarm, but the tone was distinctly different. Remembering my diligence in purchasing the Floodbusters, I worked my way to the source of the alarm, the cupboard under the sink! After removing the clutter of buckets, plungers, sponges, and other paraphernalia I get to my Floodbuster, and instantly I see the pool of water that had collected in the hidden recesses under the sink. The source of the leak was a loose pipe from the waste disposal unit, which was easily repaired which a tightening of the connectors. If undetected, I’m confident that had I not been alerted to the slow but consistent leak, which would have remained hidden due to its location, the damage and subsequent repair and inconvenience would have been massive. At $19.99, the Floodbuster has already exponentially paid for itself.