Customer Reviews for Basement Watchdog Battery-Operated Water Alarm Sump Accessory

The battery operated watch dog was exactly what I was looking for. It has worked good so far. I use it on an accessory gray water pump in the basement for the washing machine. Also shipping was fast and free. Thanks.

This alarm can help prevent costly water damage repairs by detecting water leaks early. The unit can be used stand alone or by extending it’s sensor up to 6’ with the supplied cable to a hard to reach or cramped area under appliances that use water or under sinks. A great value less than $15.00, 5 year warranty, loud alarm, extendable to 100’, very sensitive, uses a 9 volt battery, and has a 5 year warranty.

Quick & easy to set up. Just put in the battery, place it wherever there could be a water leak, and it's ready to protect your home.

Under sinks, near water heaters, behind refrigerators with water dispensers, this water alarm works and cloud possibly eliminate a lot of heartbreak.

I ordered this product on the recommendation of my water heater installer, set it in my drip pin (per manufacturer's instructions) and didn't think much more about it. This afternoon my husband and I were engaged in conversation when we were interrupted by an extremely loud, high pitched, almost deafening noise, shrill noise that was not only irritating but unrecognizable. After running around our house trying to identify the source of this offensive sound, we tracked it down to the little watchdog battery-operated alarm sitting in the drip pan of the new water heater we had installed about two weeks ago. Lo and behold there were droplets of water sitting in the drip pan possibly coming from the relief valve. We called the installation company who is sending their serviceman tomorrow to investigate and rectify. We would have never suspected or found the leak if not for this very inexpensive but effective alarm system. Would have had a flooded mess if not for this product. Have to say this was the best purchase I made in a long time and cost less than $20. Thank you BasementWatchdog" alarm system. Highly recommend!!!

We bought this alarm at Home Depot 4 years ago when we moved into our house specifically to alert us in the event of something catastrophic occurring with our water heater or in case our air conditioning condensate pump failed. Both are in the basement right next to each other. So I stuck this unit on the floor right in between the two units and all but forgot about it for the next three years. I may have tested it once or twice in the first year. Anyway, fast-forward to this past winter... wife and I were sound asleep two floors up when an unusual noise woke me. I had no idea what it was (remember, it had been years), so I followed it down two flights of stairs, down a hallway in the basement, and into our utility room. There I found water coming from the underside of the water heater tank....not gushing, but definitely at an appreciable rate. I was able to cut off the intake valve to the water heater, turn off the unit, and drain the tank through a garden hose before going back to bed and leaving the rest to deal with in the morning. What a lifesaver! With an infant in the picture, my wife and I were no longer spending a whole lot of time in our basement. At that point I was venturing down there once a week MAX. This inexpensive little alarm sat in complete silence for years and then did it’s job when I needed it to, saving us from costly disaster. Don’t hesitate to purchase it...it’s well worth it!

Product fits in tight places. Tone on alarm sounds loud where you would notice it. Using it under fish tank in case there are water leaks from filter. Perfect solution to avoiding water damage.

The Watchdog Water Alarm is just what I've been looking for. I needed something that would detect the slightest amount of water on the basement floor without being overly sensitive to dampness. This product does just that. Unlike the product that it is replacing, the Watchdog Water Alarm doesn't falsely trigger in damp conditions - it requires actual water to be present. But it doesn't require much. Less than 1/2 teaspoon of water on a flat surface is enough to trigger the extremely loud, high-pitched alarm tone. Stopping the alarm is simple - just wipe the water from the two electrodes with a dry cloth or paper towel and the alarm stops instantly. Another great feature of the alarm is that the sensor plate, which normally is integrated into the alarm's housing, can easily disengage and be placed up to six feet away from the housing. That is especially handy for putting the alarm sensor into hard to reach places, like sump pits and the like. One feature that would put this product over the top would be to give it the capability to send alarm alerts via Bluetooth or WiFi, which would allow notifications outside of normal hearing range.

Good price for potential catastrophic event that we all do not look forward to experiencing. Fingers crossed.

Works great. I use it in the laundry room which happen to be on the second floor. My cloth watcher malfunction and coused a flooding and caused some water damage. If I’ve had this alarm none of it would’ve happened as I would have been alerted and corrected the problem. I would highly recommend.

After my clothes washer leaked and almost ruined the floor, I bought three of these , washer, refrigerator water to ice maker, and most important hot water heater pan in the attic. Everyone should buy these to tell you when water is leaking. Great product.

TEN STARS! I have used this product for many years... everywhere there is a potential for a water leak, ESPECIALLY in places I can’t see, i.e. under the dishwasher and behind frig. A good battery (none included) lasts many years. I finally replaced them after 10 years “for the fun of it”.

Update to Previous Review. Worked perfectly! In my previous review, I had hoped the alarm would not go off. Just a few weeks later, it did! My A/C condensate drain had clogged and backed up into the overflow tray. With the alarm placed there, it detected the first drips of water and went off. Although it was not particularly loud, it got my attention. I was able to get the building maintenance people on the problem immediately. Worth every penny!

If water streams between the two sensors, it's no use. Overall however, it works well, the sound is very loud, and the box itself is small and nearly inconspicuous. This is my second device I've bought because I know the first one works so well.

This alarm really works well.... I am very happy with this purchase. It was money well spent in that this alarm prevented damage from a basement drain back-up. Wow..... the drain did not back-up for six months and suddenly, even though the door to the room was closed, the alarm went off and we clearly heard it even upstairs ! I would definitely buy another one and I will definitely recommend this low priced treasure to all my family and friends. FYI...The alarm was standing on the floor in the corner, with the sensor attached to the bottom. I also installed a alkaline battery to insure long battery life on standby.

Super easy to install and used a zip tie to attach the sensor below the "flood" level to prevent any damages to home -- love the extension cable so you can place the box out of the flood zone to hear better. CHEAP!!

The water alarm is used in the crawl space under our pier and beam house which only gets some water after very heavy rain storms. The alarm is used to alert us when excess water is present so we can use a submersible pump to drain the water out. The alarm has the option to put the sensor up to several feet from the alarm unit.

I've tested it by putting my finger across the sensors. It's loud enough... Sitting in a hot water heater pan because the heater is from the 90s

Buy a WATCHDOG water alarm and a 9 volt battery and have peace of mind ! Put in the battery (not included) and set it on the floor. This was originally purchased to keep watch over the water heater in the basement. It has gone off twice with the overflow of the utility sink. Very LOUD piercing sound. It has awoken us during the night when my son put in a late wash load before going to bed. The utility sink overflowed and set off the alarm. Simply pick it up and the alarm stops sounding. When the floor is dry, just set the WATCHDOG back down on the floor and it is back on duty ! I am going to purchase another to dedicate just tot the utility sink ( hopefully, we won't need it) A valuable purchase or gift for any homeowner !

I wish I knew about this product earlier. The drain on our air conditioner clogged and flooded our hallway and dining room ruining the wood floors. I thought then that I wished there was some type of device that would warn of a water leak. Then one day I happened across this product while looking for something else in the plumbing isle at Home Depot. I bought it and tested it out at home and it works great. It has a loud, high pitched alarm that sounds when water comes into contact with the two metal spots on the bottom. I set it on the floor behind the A/C filter (CLICK ON PHOTO BELOW). I plan on getting another to put near the water heater. It was only $10 and could potentially save me thousands of dollars in water damage. Highly recommended!!

Put battery in, place it on the floor and don't have to worry about my sump flooding without the warning alarm.

After having the horror of a floor drain backing up in the basement, I wasn't about to take another chance in not knowing when water was coming up onto the floor. I bought this water alarm after seeing that I could install the sensor wherever I wanted and have the alarm itself high and dry, closer to where we'd hear it easily. It can detect water as shallow as 1/32nd of an inch deep. Giving you plenty of time to take action before it's a full on flood. It requires a 9V battery (not included) to operate. The manual says it can last up to five years on one battery, since it only turns on when the sensor gets wet. You can place the alarm right on the floor, or you can detach the sensor and place the alarm up to six feet away with the included wire. You may extend the wire up to 100 feet if you need to. This alarm would also work great to detect leaks from things like spring thaw through the foundation, sump pump failure, hot tub leaks or even an aquarium leak. Given that it has a five year warranty and it's so inexpensive, there is no reason not to have at least one of these in your home. It's far less expensive than an insurance claim or paying to repair and clean up water damage.

We've had a couple minor water related problems over the years, mainly caused by poor reliability of available sump pumps and their switches. So after the most recent episode, I replaced the sump pump with most durable I could find and built my own switch to control it. For extra piece of mind, I purchased 2 Basement Watchdog Battery Operated Water Alarms. I like the removable sensor feature that allows the homeowner to mount the alarm on the wall and put the sensor 6 feet away on the floor. You can also splice in extra wire if needed. I spliced in a second sensor, made from 2 stainless steel screws and nuts, that hangs down into the sump on a couple small pieces of PVC pipe about an inch above the waterline where the switch turns the pump on. If the pump fails for any reason and the water ever reaches the screws, the alarm will sound. The actual splice is 2 more stainless screws and nuts, mounted on a piece of plastic that I set on the floor beside the sump. That forms a 3rd sensor for “free”. The second Watchdog Alarm unit that I bought I just put a battery in, wrote the date on the side, and set it on the floor near the water heater, just in case. While I was home last weekend, our electricity went off. I knew it was just a matter of time before the sump would fill without the pump running. Sure enough, within 5 minutes the alarm sounded just as advertised. These units are extremely easy to set up, just put a battery in, and put it sensor side down on the floor. I recommend writing the date on the side to remind you to change the battery after a year or two. Or you can extend the sensor with or without DIY modifications to fit your application. They are very sensitive, just touch the sensors to give yourself piece of mind that they are working. For the price, anyone with indoor plumbing should have a couple to alert you to water where it's not supposed to be.

This one will give a piece of mind and so far so good. Not much to say here.

I put the sensor board in a sump to trigger in case of pump failure, but got false alarms due the humid environment. There's no way to reduce the sensitivity. I replaced the sensor board with a LEVEL SENSE (also available from HD). This is a float operated sealed relay, so it is not affected by moisture. System now works like a champ

I just got the item a couple weeks ago so it's still too early to give a proper review on how well it works. As far as the functionality of the item, it tested fine. Hopefully, I will never have to find out how well it works.

I have these all over my house; any place where water can leak. I once bought one for my neighbor who lived directly above me. I placed it next to her water heater and she returned home for the summer. Two weeks later I returned home from my errands and that alarm was so loud i was able to hear it outside in my parking space. Needless to say she was really happy i had bought it for her. It saved both of our condos.