Running Computers In The Basement Without Fear Of Water

Recently when writing about the tiling work and other changes being done in the "basement server room", a Phoronix reader asked how I do so without being concerned of the basement flooding and destroying the 60+ computers.

Thus I figured I would give a small weekend shout-out to one of the products I rely upon for protection that I previously hadn't covered on Phoronix. Besides having a water sensor near the sump pump that communicates with the security system, I also have several battery-powered water sensors for sounding their built-in siren if water is detected.

The water alarms/sensors I rely upon for that are the Basement Watchdog Water Sensor/Alarm. They're just over $10 USD on Amazon, powered by 9V batteries, the water sensor is corded so it's quite flexible in terms of where you want the sensor and siren, and the 110dBA alarm obviously is quite loud.

I have a few of these Basement Watchdog alarms around all the water sources in the basement with the computer equipment from the sump pump to water heater. Separately, I've also bought them for placement around our washing machine and other water sources for safety. From my testing of it, the Basement Watchdog appears to work quite well and the siren certainly packs a punch.

Those interested in finding out more about the Basement Watchdog alarm for whatever the use case can find it at Amazon.com. It's also the number one best seller for water detectors/alarms with over 709 fellow customer reviews.