Water leak detection in Philadelphia for commercial and multifamily buildings
Managed leak detection, 24/7 monitoring and automatic shutoff for condos, high-rises and commercial buildings across Greater Philadelphia.
- 150,000+
- active smart devices in the field
- $2.26M
- in water costs saved in 2025
- 24/7
- monitoring center
Why Philadelphia buildings carry water risk
Philadelphia's building stock is among the oldest in the country, and much of its condo inventory lives inside conversions. Prewar office buildings, warehouses and lofts across Center City, Old City and Northern Liberties became condos and apartments, and many still run galvanized steel supply lines and cast iron drains from the original construction. Those pipes corrode and crack behind plaster and brick, and the first sign is usually a stain a floor or two down.
Winter decides how sudden a failure gets. Deep January cold snaps freeze supply lines in exterior walls, stairwells and parking garages, and a pipe that froze overnight lets go when it thaws. January is the busiest month for water main breaks in Philadelphia, and the average main is about 76 years old. The pipe inside an older building is often the same vintage as the pipe under the street.
The new stock carries different risk, not less. Philadelphia permitted more residential units in 2021 than New York City, and new plumbing fails too, usually at push-fit fittings and appliance connections. Eddy serves Greater Philadelphia with the same managed program it runs across North America. Flow monitoring and automatic shutoff protect condo conversions, new towers, Class A offices and the university and hospital campuses that anchor the city's economy.
Where leaks start in Philadelphia buildings
Galvanized steel and cast iron in prewar stock
Center City and Northern Liberties conversions still run original galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains. Galvanized pipe corrodes from the inside out, so pressure drops for years before a joint finally weeps. Continuous monitoring catches the weep before it becomes the split.
Freeze and burst pipes
Deep January cold puts supply lines in exterior walls, stairwells and garages at risk, and a hard freeze can burst pipe across a building in one night. Flow monitoring flags the burst the moment water starts moving and automatic shutoff closes the line.
A wave of new towers, and new plumbing
The tax abatement race filled the skyline with new multifamily towers, and new plumbing fails early. Push-fit fittings, appliance connections and condensate lines let go in the first years of occupancy, usually inside a finished ceiling.
Insurance pressure on conversions
Insurers rate Philadelphia's older condo conversions higher because aging plumbing drives water damage claims. Documented monitoring gives a board something to bring to renewal besides another year of losses.
Smart leak detection in Philadelphia
A smart water leak detection system pairs wireless sensors and smart meters with automatic shutoff, so a Philadelphia building catches a leak in seconds instead of discovering it from a ceiling stain. Eddy runs the full stack as one managed program with a staffed 24/7 monitoring center on the chain.
Sensors plus flow intelligence
3-in-1 wireless sensors watch high-risk spaces for water, temperature and humidity while smart meters flag abnormal flow against thresholds learned from the building's own baseline.
No building Wi-Fi needed
Devices run on Eddy's own LoRaWAN network at 915 MHz, a long-range radio that holds a signal through concrete. Gateways backhaul over Ethernet or LTE cellular, and with cellular backhaul monitoring stays up even if building internet goes down.
Shutoff plus a live response
Automatic valves close the moment a configured rule fires, and Eddy's monitoring center calls the building's contacts within minutes of every alert. Every confirmed event closes with a Leak Incident Report.
See how the Eddy system works, from sensor placement to the monitoring center.
Coverage map
How Eddy works in a Philadelphia building.
Three layers, one solution. Turn the building to see where sensors, meters and valves sit, then run a leak through the system, from the first drop to the monitoring center's response.
Occupied building · Business hours
Drag to turn the building. Select a label, or run a leak through the system.
The system
Detect, control and respond, in one managed program.
Sensors sit where leaks start and meters watch the flow. Valves close on the rules you set, and a 24/7 monitoring center follows each alert until your team has eyes on it.
3 layers and 16 close-ups in this building
Detect
Two ways to find a leak before it finds a unit.
Sensors sit where leaks start, and meters watch the flow for the leaks no sensor can reach.
8 close-ups · select one to zoom in
Point-of-leak
Flow-based
More about Detect
Eddy detects water through two layers running in parallel. Point-of-leak sensors sit where leaks happen: common areas and mechanical rooms (including elevator pits), inside suites at high-risk appliances, and behind walls at the risers that hide damage until cascade. Flow-based detection runs continuously at meters across the building, flagging continuous low flow, continuous use and extreme use against thresholds learned from your building's baseline.
- 3-in-1 sensors detect water, temperature and humidity
- Three flow thresholds, learned per building, not generic defaults
- Sensors are permitted near sprinkler infrastructure; valves are not
Where each device sits
- COMMON: Common & mechanical areas (incl. elevator pits) · Eddy H2O
- AMENITY: Pool, gym, spa decks · Eddy H2O
- IN-SUITE: Out-of-wall at laundry, kitchen, baths · Eddy H2O
- RISERS: In-wall domestic risers (concealed) · Eddy H2O
- HVAC + FAN COILS: Concealed HVAC sources · Eddy H2O
- SUITE METERING: Per-unit submetering + leak detection (LEED-eligible) · Eddy IQ
- BUILDING USAGE: Main consumption monitoring · Eddy Link
- H&C MAKE-UP: Closed-loop heating/cooling · Eddy IQ
Control
Valves that close the water before it closes the unit.
Valves close on the rules you set, automatically on a threshold or remotely from the dashboard.
4 close-ups · select one to zoom in
More about Control
Detection without action is just an alert. Every sensor or meter event can trigger a valve, automatically on threshold or remotely from the dashboard. Eddy IQ is the all-in-one meter and valve for ¾"–1" lines. Eddy Link drives shutoff valves up to 18" for everything larger, provisioned and configured by Eddy.
- Eddy IQ at ¾"–1": combined meter + valve in one unit
- Eddy Link + motorized valves at mains, zones, risers, hydronics (up to 18")
- Fire mains and sprinkler systems excluded by design for life safety
Where each device sits
Respond
A live monitoring center that closes the loop.
Alerts go through Eddy's cloud to a 24/7 monitoring center, and an operator calls your team until someone has eyes on the water.
4 close-ups · select one to zoom in
What happens in a leak, step by step
- A washing machine supply hose bursts in a suite upstairs.
- Eddy H2O under the washer detects water and sends the alert over LoRaWAN.
- The building's gateway relays it. Your team and the 24/7 monitoring center are alerted at the same time.
- A shutoff rule closes the suite's Eddy IQ valve. The water stops at the source.
- An operator confirms the alert and calls your on-site team through the escalation protocol.
Automatic shutoff is configured per building. Some sites use operator-coordinated isolation instead.
More about Respond
Eddy's 24/7 monitoring center confirms every alert, escalates per your contact list and stays on the line until the water is off and the on-site team has eyes on it.
- Configurable automation rules per zone and time of day
- Trained operators on duty 24/7
- Escalation: automation → property manager → emergency contact, on your list
- Submetering and consumption data for billing, conservation and ESG reporting
Behind each close-up
- AUTOMATION: Configurable rules per zone & time-of-day · Eddy Dashboard
- LIVE OPERATORS: Trained humans, every event · Monitoring center
- ESCALATION: Per-contact-list escalation · Your team
- SUBMETERING: Per-unit billing & conservation reporting · Eddy IQ
The system
Eddy goes in while the building goes up.
Sensors cover risers, HVAC sources and active work zones before the walls close. Meters watch the domestic main and site water, and the monitoring center is on the line from day one.
3 layers and 15 close-ups in this building
Detect
Build the detection layer into the building itself.
Sensors go in before the walls close, and meters watch the main and the site water from day one.
9 close-ups · select one to zoom in
Point-of-leak
Flow-based
More about Detect
The best time to place a sensor behind a wall is before the wall closes. Eddy goes in during construction to install the same operational-grade detection your building will run on for the next decade: sensors at common areas and mechanical rooms, concealed sensors at risers and HVAC sources you'll never be able to retrofit this easily again, plus construction-specific coverage at active high-risk zones, ambient climate monitoring during temperature and humidity swings, and optional fire main flow monitoring for unintended sprinkler discharge.
- Same 3-bucket sensor placement as operational buildings (common · in-suite · concealed)
- Riser and HVAC sensors placed pre-drywall, no later retrofit needed
- Construction-only overlays: high-risk zone sensors, climate anomalies, fire main flow monitoring
Where each device sits
- COMMON & MECHANICAL: Mech rooms, lobbies, elevator pits · Eddy H2O
- RISERS: Placed before walls close · Eddy H2O
- HVAC + FAN COILS: Concealed HVAC sources · Eddy H2O
- HIGH-RISK ZONES: Construction-active areas (Advanced tier +) · Eddy H2O
- CLIMATE: Humidity & temperature anomalies · Eddy H2O
- DOMESTIC MAIN: Building usage from Day 1 · Eddy Link
- SITE WATER: Temporary construction water (Eddy IQ) · Eddy IQ
- H&C MAKE-UP: Closed-loop heating/cooling · Eddy IQ
- FIRE MAIN FLOW: Unintended sprinkler discharge detection (meter only, no valve) · Eddy Link
Control
Stop the cascade before the crew gets the call.
Valves close on the lines most likely to fail, and schedule mode shuts the main when the crew leaves.
5 close-ups · select one to zoom in
More about Control
Automatic shutoff on the lines most likely to fail during construction: domestic main, temporary water supply, hydronic make-up. Schedule mode closes the valve when the trades leave and opens it when work resumes. A daily after-hours guardrail aimed at the 2 AM peak when most leaks happen and the site is empty.
- Eddy Link + motorized valve on the domestic main (sized to pipe)
- Eddy IQ on ¾"–1" lines (temp construction water and H&C make-up)
- Domestic zone valves added at the Unlimited tier
- Fire mains excluded by design (monitoring permitted, see DETECT pillar)
Where each device sits
Respond
Day 1 of the project, Day 1 of the service.
The monitoring center is on the line from the first valve install and stays on through occupancy.
3 close-ups · select one to zoom in
What happens in a leak, step by step
- A fitting lets go on a charged riser, several floors up.
- Eddy H2O on the slab detects water, and the meter on the domestic main sees the flow jump.
- The alert reaches the site team and the 24/7 monitoring center at the same time.
- The domestic main closes on the project's shutoff rule.
- An operator coordinates live with the superintendent until the crew has eyes on it.
Shutoff rules are set per project, per zone and per time of day.
More about Respond
Eddy's monitoring center is on the line from the first valve install. Every alert is confirmed by a trained operator and coordinated live with the superintendent, not left on voicemail. When the building reaches occupancy, the service continues with the same team. No handoff to figure out, no system to redeploy.
- Operators coordinate live with on-site superintendent
- Same monitoring center carries through to occupancy
Behind each close-up
- AUTOMATION: Per-zone, per-time-of-day rules · Eddy Dashboard
- LIVE OPERATORS: Trained humans on every event · Monitoring center
- HANDOFF TO OCCUPANCY: Service continues, no rebuild · Monitoring center
Smart sensors at every leak point
Eddy places point-of-leak sensors and smart flow meters where water damage actually starts in Philadelphia buildings, from the mechanical room to a laundry hose, so a leak is caught at the source and shut off before it spreads.
Mechanical rooms
Boilers, water heaters and main risers, where a single failure floods fast.
HVAC and fan coils
Heat exchangers and condensate lines that drip behind walls and ceilings.
Kitchens
Supply lines, shutoffs and appliance connections under and behind the sink.
Bathrooms
Toilets, vanities and concealed in-wall fixtures on every floor.
Laundry
Washer hoses and laundry connections, a top source of overnight leaks.
Every minute changes the bill.
A leak gets bigger the longer it runs. Eddy detects in seconds and the monitoring center escalates within minutes, so the same failure is contained around minute two. Unmonitored, an after-hours leak runs six to eight hours before anyone arrives.
The leak starts at minute zero. Eddy contains it around minute two. Unmonitored, the same leak runs six to eight hours before staff arrive, and that red stretch is the avoided claim.
Build your system
Design your building's leak protection.
Two minutes of quick questions gets your building the right protection, previewed instantly.
- Sized to your asset class and budget
- Modular. Adjust anything before pricing
- An Eddy team member calls soon after you submit
Sensors, meters and shutoff, backed by a 24/7 monitoring center.
What stage is the project at?
Pick one to start. We tune every question and the system around it.
New constructionFrom breaking ground to substantial completion.
Existing buildingInstalled in existing buildings with minimal disruption to residents and operations.About two minutes.
The master policy covers the units in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's Uniform Condominium Act requires the association to carry property insurance on the common elements and the units, exclusive of improvements and betterments owners install. That means a unit-level water loss usually lands on the association's master policy, so one owner's failed supply line becomes every owner's claims history and every owner's premium. Building-wide monitoring is how a board manages a risk the statute makes collective.
A team behind every alert
A 3 a.m. alert is one chime. Nobody is awake to hear it.
Fast response is not just the hardware. The technology sees the water in seconds, and the managed service behind it, a monitoring center that calls your team within minutes, turns that into a contained event before it becomes a claim.
Tuned by real events
Built over a decade in operating buildings.
Eddy has been inside buildings since 2014. Sensor placement, alert thresholds and the monitoring-center playbook are tuned by what real water events across our monitored properties keep teaching us.
Built for the building
Sized to how the water system behaves.
Multi-family stacks, commercial towers, hospitality suites, course-of-construction projects. Each water system has its own failure pattern. The coverage map, response chain and shutoff sequence are scoped to the property in front of us, not a template.
Detect, contain, document
Every event leads to a closed incident.
Sensors find where water escaped. Automatic shutoff isolates the affected zone. The 24/7 monitoring center calls your team within minutes and stays on it until it's closed, with a Leak Incident Report on file.
Protecting portfolios across North America
Eddy protects condo towers, commercial buildings and multi-property portfolios across North America, with 150,000+ devices monitored from its Toronto monitoring center. Operators confirm every alert, call the building's contacts through the escalation protocol within minutes of the SMS, email and app alerts and can close a valve remotely when the building's response plan calls for it. In Philadelphia that program lands the same way in a 1920s conversion as in a lease-up tower, tuned to how each building's water system behaves.
Solutions for every building
Eddy protects every asset type the same way, with monitoring and shutoff tuned to how each building's water system behaves.
Multifamily and condos
Protect every suite and riser across high-rise and mid-rise residential.
Commercial
Keep Class A offices and mixed-use towers dry, floor by floor.
Construction
Cover active sites where water damage is a leading cause of loss.
Hospitality
Guard guest floors and back-of-house without disrupting the stay.
Institutional
Safeguard campuses, hospitals and labs where contents are irreplaceable.
Industrial
Watch process water and facility systems around the clock.
Philadelphia water leak detection FAQ
Yes. Eddy serves buildings nationwide across Canada and the US, with installation crews coordinated remotely and the 24/7 monitoring center in Toronto covering every time zone. Philadelphia buildings get the same managed program as any market, from Center City to the suburbs on both sides of the river.
Yes, and those are the buildings where monitoring earns the most. Monitoring cannot replace century-old galvanized or cast iron pipe, but it catches the slow failures that pipe produces, often weeks before they surface as visible damage, and the documented response supports the building's insurance conversation. Sensors are wireless, so coverage reaches through plaster, brick and concrete without opening walls.
Flow monitoring sees the moment a frozen line lets go and automatic shutoff closes the water, whether the burst happens at 2 pm or 2 am. The monitoring center confirms the alert and calls the building's contacts through the escalation protocol within minutes of the SMS, email and app alerts, so the response does not wait for someone to find water in a stairwell.
Eddy's technology is approved by most insurers across North America to provide deductible or premium savings. Programs have documented premium savings of up to 20%, and deductible reductions of up to 80% have been documented at individual properties. Pennsylvania's condominium statute puts unit losses on the association's master policy, so fewer water claims help every owner in the building. For specific questions about a Philadelphia property, reach out to sghanbarian@eddysolutions.com.
Yes. New plumbing fails early, and the failures cluster in push-fit fittings, appliance connections and condensate lines, usually inside a finished ceiling. Philadelphia's recent construction wave delivered thousands of new units, and a leak in a lease-up tower damages the same drywall and the same reputation as one in a conversion. Monitoring from day one also gives a new building a clean documented history at its first renewal.
How Eddy works
Eddy Solutions is managed water leak detection for builders, commercial asset managers and property managers, hospitals, hotels and conference centers, data centers and multifamily residential buildings across North America. It combines point-of-leak and flow sensors, automatic shutoff, building wireless connectivity, a 24/7 monitoring center and insurance-grade reporting into one program from one vendor, so a leak is detected, contained, escalated and documented without your team running the response.
Eddy monitors 150,000+ active devices across North America and has prevented an estimated $98M (USD) in property damage last year alone. Aon's independent study found Eddy would have positively affected 58% of water-loss claims in commercial real estate.
The 24/7 monitoring center is the after-hours response. Trained operators confirm every alert, escalate per the building's contact list, support the on-call contact, and stay on the line until the water is off and the response is verified.
Yes. Eddy Solutions' technology is approved by most insurers across North America to provide deductible or premium savings. Given differences in asset types and building risk profiles, insurance incentives are not uniform. For specific insurance questions related to your property in North America, please reach out directly to sghanbarian@eddysolutions.com.
Eddy's team walks the building, or reviews the construction drawings, and produces a tiered design matched to the asset class, water systems and insurance program. Our first step is an exploratory call with the relevant stakeholders to understand the problem you are looking to solve. Proposals come from our technical team in 7 days or less.
You can also get started immediately with our Build Your System tool at eddysolutions.com/build-your-system.
Smart water leak detection uses connected sensors and flow meters to watch a building's plumbing in real time, instead of waiting for someone to find a leak. Point-of-leak sensors catch water at the source and smart flow meters spot an abnormal run or a burst riser, and the system can shut the water off automatically or on a remote command. With Eddy, a 24/7 monitoring center acts on every alert, so detection turns into a response, not just a notification.
A home leak detector is usually a single sensor that pings an app. Commercial and multifamily leak detection has to cover dozens of risers, suites and mechanical rooms, hold a signal through concrete and steel and produce the documented response insurers expect. Eddy is built for that scale, with building-grade LoRaWAN wireless, point-of-leak and flow coverage across the property, automatic shutoff up to building mains and a managed 24/7 monitoring center.
Leak detection finds the water. Water leak protection stops the loss. Detection on its own is an alert that still needs someone to act on it. Eddy pairs detection with automatic shutoff and a 24/7 monitoring center that escalates the alert and closes the water, so the building is protected, not just alerted.
Yes. Eddy protects multifamily and condo towers, Class A offices and mixed-use buildings, hospitality, institutional and industrial properties and active construction sites. The same managed program tunes the sensor density, shutoff strategy and reporting to how each building's water system behaves. See the full product suite at eddysolutions.com/products.