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Case Studies – Multi-Family Apartments, Vacation Rentals

Avoid Runaway Water Usage on your Vacation Rental Property

Runaway water usage is always expensive and inconvenient, but for this vacation rental property, it was catastrophic.

Problem Statement

Stephanie, the HOA president of a 93-unit luxury vacation cabin rental property, had a need to reliably identify runaway water usage in the property’s cabins. The well supplying the property was drained to empty on multiple occasions, leaving vacation rental guests without water in their otherwise luxurious units.

Project Summary

Legacy Mountain HOA is located in the popular mountain town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. In the region, Legacy Mountain’s cabins have a reputation as some of the best. Despite dealing with bears and rattlesnakes on a regular basis, Stephanie’s chief concern was the property’s water system.

Stephanie vetted multiple leak detection and submetering solutions to help her keep tabs on the property’s water supply. Her goal was to find a solution that offered remote reporting and real-time usage alerts, so she and the property management companies servicing the cabins could avoid runaway water flow in the cabins.

SimpleSUB Water’s automated reporting, cellular internet, and clamp-on design met all of Stephanie’s conditions. The non-invasive meters were the most approachable for the property’s maintenance team. With mountainous terrain and ongoing construction making cabin access extremely difficult, easy installation and remote reporting were essential to the success of the project.

After a successful trial period, the HOA deployed Z1 Flow Meters throughout the property. The system’s high flow leak alerts have helped Legacy Mountain HOA regain control over their water supply and ensure their renters have an exceptional experience.

Challenges

One of the property’s main attractions is private hot tubs, which get emptied and refilled during routine cleanings between guests. On multiple occasions, hoses were inadvertently left running in the hot tubs, which completely drained the property’s water tanks, and left renters without water in their cabins. The HOA was forced to restore water service to the cabins by importing water from the county. Each time this occurred, it cost the HOA $27,000.

Since implementing the SimpleSUB Water solution, the HOA has saved tens of thousands of gallons of water, with at least 9 high flow leak alerts diverting as many catastrophes.

Outcome

SimpleSUB Water’s leak alerts have helped ensure a positive guest experience for vacation cabin renters. The solution serves a critical purpose as a usage monitoring system, but has also helped the HOA develop more fair water billing practices because of the unit-level water usage now accessible to the board and cabin owners.

Highlights

Clamp-on Installation: The over-the-pipe construction of the SimpleSUB meters has allowed the HOA to detach and reinstall the meters throughout ongoing construction, streamlining the process and minimizing lost data. With most of the 93 cabins requiring plumbing upgrades, this ease of use was extremely helpful to the HOA board.

Customizable Alerts: The cabins range in size, with some consuming significantly higher amounts of water than others. The HOA is able to customize SimpleSUB Water’s high flow leak alerts based on the unique needs of each individual cabin.

Avoid Catastrophe: The HOA was able to avoid catastrophes on two of their busiest weekends in 2023: Thanksgiving and Labor Day. In both cases, high flow leak alerts averted disaster by identifying runaway usage immediately.

Fair Billing: The HOA formerly based water billing on cabin size, with set charges for 1BR, 2BR, and 3 BR cabins, respectively. The SimpleSUB solution has allowed the HOA to standardize a water usage fee, and charge for overages based on actual consumption – not estimates.

9 high flow leak alerts in one year have diverted as many catastrophic water losssce scenarios since installation was completed.

The solution delivers unprecedented results. The patent-pending design and calibration process, which ensure easy installation and high accuracy, are changing the landscape of clamp-on submetering.