The ladybug chirped and we listened – a tale for people occupying buildings with running water
by Lisa Seppala, True North Implementation
If you’ve ever held a position where you’ve had to be prepared to respond to emergency situations at any hour, even though that response may not be your main job function, you’ll be familiar with the commonly held belief that all events happen in the off hours – when the people who operate the system on a daily basis are off, whether it be a night or a weekend.
The same holds true serving on a strata council. Thankfully yesterday, the first day of a four-day long weekend, our building site manager was on duty to assist someone with a last-minute furniture move.
I was sitting in my condo drinking coffee. The windows were open, and the birds were chirping as the sun was rising over the mountains. Best way to start the morning!
One ‘bird’ though seemed to be chirping to a very regular beat. Only missing some notes when I walked to a different room. “I wonder what kind of bird sings like that?”, I asked myself.
As I walked toward the main entrance the chirping got louder. When I opened the door to the common-area hallway it got even louder. It was coming from the area near the access panel for the pipe chase that runs from the top of our 24-floor building to the basement. Hmmm.
I contacted our site manager and learned that someone else had reported a similar chirping on their floor. We live on the 17th floor and the other person on the 15th.
Opening the pipe chase hatch revealed we had a leak coming from somewhere above.
The source of the now very loud chirping was the battery-operated water leak detector we had placed near the access door within the pipe chase. Our detector looks like an oversized, very cute ladybug – an Amazon purchase of less than $20. That small investment saved us countless dollars in restorative work. Eventually we determined that a minor leak had started in the pipe chase on the 23rd floor of our building and was easily fixed. I can’t imagine what would have happened if it had gone unchecked for any length of time.
The decision to place these alarms within the pipe chase had been made only a few months before by the Building Committee, a team of volunteers who work with our site manager to come up with ideas for repairs, maintenance and long-term projects. They provide incredible value to our strata corporation. Their involvement enables better decision making by the council.
We’ve been promoting the use of the water leak detector units to all our owners, but their use can be of value in any building that has running water. In addition to the service provided yesterday by our ‘ladybug’, an individual owner was recently saved from an in-suite flood as he too had installed one of the units underneath his dishwasher and when it sounded off, he was able to respond immediately.
Using this inexpensive item wherever leaks might not be readily detected until damage has already occurred can save you from headaches, loss of assets, and increases in already high insurance premiums and deductibles. Water leak detectors, from simple ladybugs to more complex Wi-Fi enabled devices, can be purchased through hardware stores and online retailers such as Amazon.
When we’re all dealing with challenging life circumstances these days, this small investment can save a lot of additional stress. In my case, given that these devices are triggered with very little water, had our building manager not been on duty, as council president I would have had ample time to call our emergency support line and wait for the needed expertise to arrive. Peace of mind – thanks to the ladybug.