In this post I’m going to look at the Aqara Water Leak Sensor, how we can configure it in my smart home automation platform of choice home assistant and an example of an automation.

 

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Product Review

The Aqara Water Leak’s main function is to detect the presence of water thanks to two probes that come into contact with water, a current loop is formed. At the same time, the sensor reports water leak/flooding status to home assistant. You can unscrew the contact with a hex screwdriver to adjust the sensibility of the sensor.

When the water level reaches 0.5 mm this will trigger the status update, in my automation I’m sending a notification to my phone. My plan is to put this sensor on my kitchen floor close to my washing machine.

This sensor is to be used inside only and it has a IP67 water and dust proof, the device is powered by a CR2032 lithium metal battery button cell. The output voltage of the cell is 3V.

The sync button of the device  is located at the center of the shell. To pair it you need to press firmly for at least 5 seconds. This wasn’t clear to me there is not click or tactile feedback to know for sure that you are doing the right thing.

In my tests the performance was outstanding, it picked up the water leak as soon as I put it in shallow water in a bowl, then once it was lifted up after 10 seconds it went back to dry (even if the device has some water on it). You can watch the video above to see it in more action.

 

Home Assistant

Like any Zigbee device you can pair this very simply you will need:

• Conbee II stick connected into your home assistant server
• ZHA Integration Setup

 

If you want to find out how to do this follow this video:

 

To enable notification on your phone you will need to download the home assistant app from either the Android or IOS store and then enable notifications.

 

Code

This automation will send me a notification if there is a leak on my kitchen floor close to the washing machine.

Code generated by home assistant UI

-alias: Washing machine is leaking
  description: ''
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: binary_sensor.water_leak_sensor
    from: 'off'
    to: 'on'
  condition: []
  action:
  - service: notify.mobile_app_giordano_s_iphone_12
    data:
      message: There is water on the kitchen floor
  - service: notify.mobile_app_giordanos_ipad
    data:
      message: There is water in the kitchen
  - service: notify.mobile_app_smarts_imac
    data:
      message: There is water in the kitchen
  mode: single

 

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