Lesson learned. The Intelliflow is a good idea, but it is built cheaply and does not provide any way to do your laundry if the unit breaks down. It was overkill.

Last year I built a first floor laundry area and went hog wild with leak prevention. One component of my strategy was the Watts Intelliflow. It works by sensing when the washer is on and turning on/off the water. The idea here is to keep pressure out of the hoses when the machine is not being used. I have fantastic hoses (Floodchek - google them they are amazing), but the Intelliflow also has a leak detector sits on the floor below the valves.

A Reduced Pressure Zone Device (RPZD, RPZ or RPZ valve) is a type of backflow prevention device used to protect water supplies from contamination. RPZDs may also be known as reduced pressure principle backflow prevention devices, or reduced pressure zone assemblies.An RPZD is considered suitable for high hazard applications, that is, where the consequence of backflow into the water supply would cause significant harm. They are considered suitable because they prevent both backflow and back-siphonage, because of a redundant design (even with two check valves broken the device still provides protection), and because they are testable to verify correct operation.

Well, after one year the Intelliflow died. Since it uses the weirdest size connectors (to the plumbing, not the hoses) there was no way to just bypass it and get on with the laundry. My plumber is here right now and here is what we are doing. We are installing a new box and Burstbuster. The Burstbuster will not turn the water on/off as needed, but it has a leak detector AND if it ever fails (plumber says they never do), you can just take it off and hook up your hose(s) directly.