Shopping Center Case Study

Leading retail and leisure REIT minimizes water leak-related risk in busy shopping center

About the Company

The Company is a leading REIT with a significant portfolio of over 15 million sq ft, with a primary focus on the retail and leisure sectors.

THE CHALLENGE

Minimizing operational risk by guarding against water leaks

One of the Company’s shopping centers, located in a popular commuter area, was experiencing recurring water leaks.

Escape of water events in mechanical rooms created an unacceptable level of operational risk. And frequent leaks in restrooms not only created potential health and safety liabilities, but also led to repeated restroom closures, which negatively impacted the guest experience at the center.

With over 500,000 sq ft of space to maintain, the facilities team wanted an effective water leak detection solution that they could trust to spot leaks quickly, without high false positive rates.

They needed accuracy, reliability, and the ability to detect leaks in areas where water might already be present.

THE SOLUTION

Water leak detection that accurately detects leaks in many spaces

The Company had LAIIER’s Severn WLD devices installed in a range of areas: in mechanical rooms to monitor equipment including boilers, chiller pumps, and water tanks; in restrooms behind toilet cisterns and sinks; in sprinkler riser cabinets; and near smoke exhaust vents.

The entire installation was completed in under a day, without causing guest disruption. The slim profile of the water leak sensors made them easy to install in constrained spaces, without requiring specialist skills or tools.

As soon as the devices were installed, they began monitoring and sending data to LAIIER’s cloud platform.

Interior of premium shopping mall
THE RESULT

Real-time water leak alerts minimize damage and disruption

The first water leak occurred in a water tank in a mechanical room, within two weeks of installation. This was soon followed by further leaks: from a boiler, and sprinkler risers, as well as several leaks from restrooms.

In every instance, the Company’s facilities management team received real-time alerts via email and SMS that allowed them to quickly attend to active leaks. And by detecting genuine leaks without raising false positive alarms, the team also grew to trust the LAIIER water leak detection system.

The Company elected to expand LAIIER’s water leak detection coverage at this particular site after several months, and has now deployed devices at additional retail locations.

 

First leak detected within 2 weeks

  • Real-time water leak alerts enabled the facilities management team to respond before significant damage occurred.

  • Further leak detection minimized both damage, and disruption to shopping center operations.