Advanced Flood Warning Level Alarms that give the homeowner or work site advanced warning of rising water levels.
At this time of year, we often hear of and see footage of rivers bursting their banks – and the damage this causes to homes and businesses around the country. Now, while prevention is always better than a cure, we can try to lessen the impact of these events with warning systems. To this end, we have created the RKIT – a family of Level Alarms that give the homeowner (or work site) advanced warning of rising water levels. When sited and installed correctly, they potentially give enough time to get vulnerable persons and items out of harm’s way or to move vehicles and prepare for the incoming water.
The most suitable kits for permanent advanced flood warning installations are the RKIT 1 and 2. These are mains (230vAC) powered devices with a 10m (RKIT 1) or 40cm (RKIT 2) cable attached to the capacitive level sensor. The cable can be lengthened via request or with a suitable IP68 cable joint to better fit site requirements.
If the Reka level capacitive level sensor is mounted at the lowest point of the property at risk of flooding (on a post or wall facing the water source) as the level rises, the legs of the Reka become submerged – triggering the alarm. By default, the RKIT comes with an 80dB sounder and beacon – which is generally loud enough for a domestic dwelling (and to annoy everyone around me in the office when I am testing the kits!).
As the Reka sensor requires immersion to activate and has no moving parts, there is little risk of a false alarm caused by splashing or rainfall.
Deployment of an RKIT unit can also form part of a flood action plan – not only to start breaking out the sandbags – but also to prepare other measures – such as the use of sumps to draw water away from important areas, moving critical or precious items to higher levels in a building and of course, isolating electrical circuits that are at risk.
While we cannot stop the waters (Canute tried that one, and we all know how that turned out) – we can at least prepare for them. As they say – Forewarned is forearmed.
Level Alarm – other uses
Aside from flood protection, the RKIT can be deployed in other situations that require a high-level / overflow alarm – protection for plant rooms, lift shafts, and even for when filling the coolant bath for machine shops (nothing is as slippery as ‘suds’ in a workshop ((some bruises don’t go away)). The RKIT is a remarkably versatile piece of kit. It is also available in 110v (RKIT 3 and 4) and 24vDC (RKIT 5 and 6) for worksite and marine / off-grid use.
For more information
Contact Jim, our Mac3 Technical lead. Jim and Tom have over 25 years of experience in Water Control Systems.
