Phyn, a joint venture between industry giants Belkin International and Uponor, a leading supplier of plumbing for residential and commercial spaces worldwide, is bringing home water use into the digital age with the debut of Phyn Plus, smart water assistant + shutoff to the UAE. Phyn Plus is a smart water monitoring system that protects families and their homes from leak damage with unmatched accuracy and reliability.
In the U.S., more than a trillion gallons of clean water get wasted through leaks every single year.* Homeowners are often alerted to leaks and water damage days or weeks after it has started, which is too late and can be both costly and traumatic. From the moment it is installed, Phyn Plus monitors and measures tiny fluctuations in water pressure to detect and alert homeowners the moment a leak is identified, mitigate costly damage through automatic shut off, and diagnose potential problems in plumbing systems before they become an issue.
“Water is our most precious natural resource and an essential part of our daily lives. However, it is often underappreciated and the plumbing system that conveys it, overlooked. We have invested over a decade of R&D, sensing and deciphering water’s digital fingerprint and mapping the complexities of water systems,” said Ryan Kim, CEO of Phyn. “Backing from global leaders Belkin and Uponor has enabled us to bring the most accurate leak detection solution to market while also allowing us to quickly scale and introduce new features that add value and enhance the consumer experience.”
“The UAE is rapidly urbanising, which is leading to a major increase in the consumption of a finite but critical resource: water. Fortunately, UAE residents and organisations are at the forefront of water management, with leak detection technologies helping to reduce water loss and to enhance water efficiency,” said Amanulla Khan, Managing Director of Belkin International, in the Middle East and North Africa. “In the UAE, there is a rapidly increasing number of residents who are using smart devices in the home, with incredible potential for IoT to transform utilities services. Smarter connected devices, such as Phyn, use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning for more efficient water conservation and cost savings.”
Built on the Most Robust Technology
Phyn’s groundbreaking water sensing technology was initially conceived at the University of Washington and acquired by Belkin almost a decade ago. Since then, countless hours and millions of dollars have gone into the development, testing, and refinement of the Phyn Plus solution. The technology has been refined in the lab and perfected in hundreds of homes. Leveraging the best of Belkin’s Wemo and Linksys platforms, Phyn combines advanced machine learning with the latest pressure sensor technology to provide a simple, safe and most reliable leak detection solution.
HD Pressure Sensing. Phyn measures micro changes in pressure – 240 times a second – to fingerprint the unique signatures of each fixture and catch plumbing issues ranging from the smallest pinhole leaks to faucet drips and frozen pipes.
Advanced algorithms that analyze multidimensional sensor data from pressure, flow, and temperature sensors provide a high definition view of a home’s plumbing system that accurately determines whether something is a leak or normal water usage. Phyn uses a state-of-the art ultrasonic flow sensor custom engineered by Badger Meter, a global leader in flow measurement and control technology with more than 110 years of water metering expertise and innovation.
Through an extensive year-long pilot, Phyn collected over 10 billion data points across 10 million water events such as toilet flushes, shower and sink flows, irrigation and various leaks that trained the Phyn platform to accurately identify water activity and make Phyn Plus ready-to-go the moment it is installed.
Upon installation, Phyn learns about the homeowner’s personal water system and continues to get smarter over time. When Phyn notices a change in normal water usage, the mobile app will alert homeowners in real time and in the event of a major leak, like a pipe burst, turn off water automatically with its built-in shut-off valve.
“Uponor has always been a strong supporter of the plumbing and building trades,” said Bill Gray, president, Uponor North America. “Now, with the help of this new venture into smart home technology, plumbers can position themselves as market leaders and build their businesses, while helping to advance the plumbing industry into the digital age.”
Phyn Plus will be available for purchase late 2018 for USD 850. During GITEX, Phyn will be on display at the Linksys stand – Z2 C6 – in Hall 1 of Dubai World Trade Centre between 14-18 October 2018.