Valvin is the smart-fill valve that gives the tank-style toilet a brain that will prevent unnecessary water loss and help you avoid the costs from any type of tank related leak. Although toilets serve a vital function, you never know when a toilet will be the cause of substantial water loss or significant water damage. Such losses become even more important when large quantities of toilets are being considered, as with property management companies.
When you are considering the benefits of preventing water loss from leaking toilets, there’s a Valvin model for the culprit.
Flooding Sensors studied the marketplace regarding tank leak and bowl overflow events. They came to the conclusion that those who were interested in preventing leaks did not have the same concern for preventing bowl overflows. Similarly, it was found that those who were interested in preventing bowl overflow did not have the same interest in preventing leaks. With that in mind, Valvin is available in two models, and in time, the manufacturer may introduce a model that has both capabilities.
The Valvin VI00L is designed specifically for detecting and preventing tank related leaks and comes with a leak sensor mounted to the Valvin fill valve. These preventable leaks can start from a variety of causes:
• A stuck open flapper (normally people call it “running toilet”) caused by a bound up chain or stuck down flush handle (will waste about 200 gallons per hour)
• A small flapper leak due to a deteriorating flapper will start as small reoccurring leak, but over time with further deterioration, the frequency of the tank being topped off will increase the volume of water loss indefinitely
• A leaking fill valve will constantly introduce water to an already full tank, which goes to drain unabated
When a leak is detected, the Valvin’s controller will indicate what type of leak was detected by lighting the colored LED specific to the type of leak. The Valvin is easily reset by the push of a button to re-open the fill valve allowing the tank to refill. Once the leak is detected, the resident would ideally report the event, allowing the root cause of the leak to be resolved. Even if the resident/tenant is slow to report a leaking event, the next leak detected will be attended to by the Valvin. The VI00L also has a hospitality mode, which allows the controller to identify the leak, but will not shut the water supply off. This feature is suitable for applications where no interruption of water is desired, but the housekeeper or resident would see the LED and report such at that time.
The VI00L controllers stick easily onto the side of the toilet tank and are powered by a standard 9V alkaline battery. The controller’s Red LED will light if the battery is getting low and needs replacing. The battery life of VI00L model should exceed 3 years.
Whether the flush handle has a tendency to get stuck in the down position, or the flapper chain gets bound up, the frequency of these events increases over time. This is especially true with renters who may not pay as much attention to such events as they are not damaging, however they waste enormous amounts of water. The Valvin will prevent such water loss, whether the event is reported or not. As we all know, we can hear water flushing down a stuck open flapper (running toilet) when we enter the bathroom. We then typically shake the flush handle, which either unbinds the chain, or releases the flush handle from being stuck, the water loss stops. If however, a single toilet’s flapper remains stuck open for 24 hours, it will waste about 4,800 gallons. Now imagine that same toilet with a stuck flapper for a week or even more. Such events can happen even when the residence is occupied, as a spare bathroom that rarely gets used may have a stock open flapper for an indefinite period (a week-long open flapper will waste 33,600 gallons).
Valvin will eliminate those costly events that, until now, were another waste of our time, money and water. Valvin has a warranty of 1 year.