The location of the wireless bridge in your home depends on where your meter is (usually, but not always, at the curb in front of the house) the recommended maximum distance between the two is 1,000 feet.īecause the gadget installed on the water meter is battery-powered, you’ll eventually have to spring for a new proprietary battery ($14.99 before shipping and taxes).Īccording to Flume’s website, the lithium metal battery pack shipped with the sensor should last about a year under optimal conditions, and if it lasts six months or less, you’re encouraged to contact customer support. My final out-of-pocket cost was $38.66.ĭepending on the strength of your Wi-Fi signal and the distance between your router and the Flume’s wireless bridge, you may need to invest in a Wi-Fi signal booster (easy to find online at $20 and up) to make things work. The $25 was back in my bank account the next day. My total up-front cost was $63.66 ($14.66 of which was for shipping and taxes), and within minutes - literally - of finishing the installation, I received an email letting me know my refund had been processed. One of the things that first caught my attention about the Flume was the deeply discounted price available through the LADWP partnership: $49 (before taxes and shipping) instead of $249, with $25 of that refunded after the device’s installation. Here’s some of what I learned along the way.

Flume flow sensor