FLOW DETERMINATION

Abstract

An apparatus for making a flow determination with respect to a flow through a fluid conduit such as a domestic water pipe, the fluid conduit comprising a wall having an inner surface surrounding a flow space through which the fluid flows and an outer surface, the apparatus comprising: a first temperature sensor arranged to be mounted on the outer surface of the fluid conduit and arranged to generate a first temperature signal indicative of a first temperature being the temperature of the outer surface; a second temperature sensor arranged to be positioned spaced apart from the first temperature sensor and to generate a second temperature signal indicative of a second temperature being the ambient temperature outside of the fluid conduit; and a processor having inputs for the first and second temperature signals; in which the processor has an output for the flow determination and is arranged to make the flow determination by determining a measure of the convergence of the first and second temperatures over time.

Claims

1.-52. (canceled)

53. A sensing apparatus, comprising: a first temperature sensor; a sensor head for housing the first temperature sensor, the sensor head being arranged so as to hold the first temperature sensor against a fluid conduit, with the first temperature sensor being arranged so as to produce in use a first temperature signal indicative of a first temperature being that of the fluid conduit; a housing; a second temperature sensor arranged in the housing or at the sensor head, arranged to produce in use a second temperature signal indicative of a second temperature being the ambient temperature; in which the housing and the sensor head are joined by a flexible cable, the apparatus being arranged such that in use the flexible cable transmits at least one of the first and second temperature signals.

54. (canceled)

55. The sensing apparatus of claim 53, in which the second temperature sensor is in the sensor head with the first temperature sensor, but spaced therefrom.

56. (canceled)

57. The sensing apparatus of claim 53, in which the sensor head comprises a clamping mechanism arranged to clamp onto the fluid conduit.

58. The sensing apparatus of claim 57, in which the clamping mechanism comprises at least one jaw arranged to engage the fluid conduit and a biasing member arranged to bias each jaw into contact with the fluid conduit.

59. The sensing apparatus of claim 58, in which each jaw comprises a profiled section, which, when biased by the biasing member tends to drive a contact portion of the sensor head into contact with the fluid conduit.

60. The sensing apparatus of claim 59, in which the profiled section comprises a surface (typically planar) slanted relative to a biasing direction in which the biasing member applies a biasing force to the jaw, the surface facing the contact portion.

61. The sensing apparatus of claim 60, in which each jaw comprises a further profiled section, which is also slanted relative to the biasing direction, but in an opposing direction, so that application of the biasing force tends to drive the contact portion away from the fluid conduit, the further profiled section being typically spaced further from the contact portion than the profiled section.

62. (canceled)

63. The sensing apparatus of claim 53, in which the first temperature sensor is provided with a sensor biasing member, which tends to bias the first temperature sensor into contact with the fluid conduit in use.

64. (canceled)

65. A kit of parts, comprising: a first temperature sensor; a plurality of sensor heads arranged to house the first temperature sensor, each sensor head being arranged so as to hold the first temperature sensor against a fluid conduit, with the first temperature sensor being arranged so as to produce in use a first temperature signal indicative of a first temperature being that of the fluid conduit; a housing; a second temperature sensor, arranged to produce in use a second temperature signal indicative of a second temperature being the ambient temperature; in which the housing and the first temperature sensor are joined by a flexible cable, the apparatus being arranged such that in use the flexible cable transmits at least one of the first and second temperature signals and that the sensor heads can interchangeably engage the first temperature sensor.

66. A kit of parts as set out in claim 65, wherein the plurality of sensor heads are arranged for use with different pipes and/or have different sizes.

67. A kit of parts as set out in claim 65, arranged to be installable such that, when a sensor head is attached to the fluid conduit, the housing is suspended from the fluid conduit on the flexible cable.

68. The sensing apparatus of claim 53, wherein the housing is separate and/or distant from the sensor head and/or wherein the housing is movable relative to the sensor head by way of the flexible cable.

69. The sensing apparatus of claim 53, arranged to be installable such that, when the sensor head is attached to the fluid conduit, the housing is suspended from the fluid conduit on the flexible cable.

70. The sensing apparatus of claim 58, in which the biasing member comprises a tension spring.

71. The sensing apparatus of claim 58, wherein each jaw comprises a groove into which a tool can be inserted to force the jaws apart.

72. The sensing apparatus of claim 53, wherein the sensor head comprises an arcuate surface for attaching the sensor head to the pipe.

73. The sensing apparatus of any preceding claim, further comprising at least one of: a processor, optionally housed within the housing, a battery, optionally housed within the housing, and a transmitter in the housing for the first and/or second temperature signals.

74. The sensing apparatus of claim 53, wherein, in use, the flexible cable transmits the first temperature signal to the processor in the housing.

75. The sensing apparatus of claim 53, wherein the sensor head comprises a through bore into which the first temperature sensor can be inserted and wherein the first temperature sensor is arranged, when installed, to protrude from the bore so as to define a contact face for the sensor head and wherein the first temperature sensor is provided with a biasing member for biasing the first temperature sensor out of the bore.

76. The sensing apparatus of claim 53, wherein the first temperature sensor is arranged to be locked into the sensor head.

Description

[0108] There now follows, by way of example only, description of an embodiment of the invention, described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0109] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a plumbing network having a flow determination apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

[0110] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the housing of the flow determination apparatus of FIG. 1;

[0111] FIG. 3 shows an exploded perspective view of the housing of FIG. 2;

[0112] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the flow determination apparatus of FIG. 1;

[0113] FIGS. 5 and 6 show graphs of data collected by the sensors of the flow determination apparatus of FIG. 1;

[0114] FIG. 7 shows another graph of data collected by the sensors of the flow determination apparatus of FIG. 1;

[0115] FIG. 8 shows further data collected by the sensors of the flow determination apparatus of FIG. 1;

[0116] FIG. 9 shows a plan view of a sensing apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

[0117] FIGS. 10 to 12 show front, side and perspective views respectively of a sensor head of the sensing apparatus of FIG. 9;

[0118] FIGS. 13 to 15 show front, side and perspective views respectively of an alternative sensor head of the sensing apparatus of FIG. 9;

[0119] FIGS. 16 and 17 show further data collected by the sensors of the flow determination apparatus of FIG. 1; and

[0120] FIG. 18 shows an embodiment of a data collection system in accordance with the present invention.

[0121] A fresh water plumbing network for a domestic dwelling is shown schematically in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, a single supply pipe 14 enters the dwelling and branches into multiple branches 15, 16. Herein, we refer generically to the pipe 14, 15, 16 as 4, the pipe being a form of fluid conduit carrying clean water 5, a fluid.

[0122] In order to make a flow determinationtypically to determine whether there is a leak from the plumbing networka flow determination apparatus is used. This comprises multiple housings 1, 2 at different locations on the plumbing network, and a remote processor 21 (FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings).

[0123] The housings 1, 2 are identical. A main housing 1 is provided on the main supply pipe 14, whereas an auxiliary housing 2 can be provided on each branch 15, 16. The housings 1, 2 are described in more detail using the example of the main housing 1 with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0124] In these Figures, it can be seen that the housing is provided as a body 1 which supports a first temperature sensor 10 against the pipe 4. It is held against the pipe 4 by means of a V-shaped aluminium block 17. The housing 1 is provided with thermally insulating foam 18 which separates a second temperature sensor 11 from the block. An optional third temperature sensor 20 can be provided between the insulating foam 18 and the block 17. A perforated lid 19 caps the housing 1 in order to allow ambient air to flow over the second temperature sensor 11.

[0125] The auxiliary housing is identical, but is provided with first 12, second 13 and optionally third (not shown) auxiliary temperature sensors respectively.

[0126] Each housing is also provided with a transmitter 22, 22a (FIG. 4)such as a Bluetooth Low Energy transmitterwhich can carry out some processing and transmits data to the remote processor 21. Each housing is also provided with a power source (not shown), such as a battery, to power the transmitter 22, 22a and the temperature sensors.

[0127] The data collected by the sensors shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings can be used to demonstrate how a flow determination can be made with this apparatus.

[0128] The apparatus relies on the fact that, if there is no flow in the pipe 4, then the temperature of the pipesensed by the first temperature sensor 10 will converge with the ambient temperaturesensed by the second temperature sensor 11 following a predictable curve.

[0129] When there is a substantial flow, the temperature of the pipe 4 will typically diverge substantially from the ambient temperature. This is most notable in domestic plumbing networks the closer to the point of entry of the supply pipe 14 into the premises. This is because the temperature of the fluid flowing through the pipe 4here, wateris likely to be different to the ambient temperature. In the domestic plumbing context, this is because pipes external to the dwelling are buried in the ground. In temperate climates such as the United Kingdom, it is likely that the water flowing into a dwelling will be significantly lower than ambient temperature and this explanation will be based on that assumption, although this embodiment will function well also with water significantly above ambient (for example, in an air-conditioned home in a hot climate).

[0130] This means that, in the example of a temperate climate, a substantial flow will lead to a sudden drop in temperature of the fluid flowing through the pipe 4 and so a drop in the temperature of the pipe 4 itself.

[0131] Where there is a low flow, the temperature of the fluid in the pipe 4 and so the pipe 4 itself will still move towards ambient temperature. We have appreciated that the curve with which the temperature moves towards the ambient temperature with time is different from that when there is no flow, and that this can be used to determine whether there is any flow and to estimate the level of that flow.

[0132] This can be demonstrated by considering FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings. This shows measured data from a domestic dwelling, from the main housing 1. Trace 30 shows the ambient temperature as measured by the second temperature sensor 11 and trace 31 shows the pipe temperature as measured by the first temperature sensor 10, both plotted against time (shown in 24 hour clock).

[0133] In this example, at time t.sub.1, the water through the dwelling was switched off; thus it was known that there was no flow. It can be seen that the trace 31 followed a particular curve between times t.sub.1 and a later time t.sub.2. This can be used to generate an expected convergence curve (or one can be calculated depending on the size and material of the pipe using standard fluid thermodynamic techniques). At time t.sub.3 the water supply was restored to the dwelling and a small amount of divergence is seen as there is some flow to repressurise the plumbing system.

[0134] Subsequent to time t.sub.3, it can be seen that there is some convergence with the ambient temperature 30. However, at time t.sub.4, a toilet which had previously been disabled was reconnected, which had a leaking cistern. This had a leak of approximately 0.06 ml/second. This caused a substantial divergence from the ambient temperature until time t.sub.5 when a tap was used, causing a substantial flow and a sudden divergence from the ambient temperature until time t.sub.6.

[0135] At this point, the pipe temperature 31 begins to converge once more with the ambient temperature 30, but it can be seen that the convergence is slower than the curve between times t.sub.1 and t.sub.2. This is indicative of a small flow. In this example, the flow turned out to be another toilet that had a then undiagnosed leak.

[0136] As such, it can be seen that a binary determination of whether there is flow can be made based upon a determination of whether there is convergence at the expected convergence curve. An indication of the level of flow can be made by determining the difference between the actual and expected convergence; the larger the difference, the higher the flow.

[0137] In one particular embodiment, the rate of change of temperature of the pipe 4 is modeled. In this model, the change of temperature in one time intervalthe time over which the algorithm is usedis given by:

T=HeatGain(T.sub.ambientT.sub.pipe)FlowGain(T.sub.pipeT.sub.supply)

[0138] where T.sub.ambient is the ambient temperature measured by the second temperature sensor 2, T.sub.pipe is the temperature of the pipe wall as measured by the first temperature sensor, T.sub.supply is the temperature of the water in the pipe at the supply (which can be determined as the lowest pipe wall temperature reached, as that is the temperature that the pipe wall will reach after sustained flow).

[0139] The values HeatGain and FlowGain are two proportionality constants; HeatGain will depend on the particular installation of the flow determination apparatus and so is unlikely to vary significantly over the timescales over which the measurements are taken. FlowGain, however, will depend on the level of flow through the pipe 4. However, an estimate of the level of the flow can be taken by modeling HeatGain and FlowGain as constant over a short period, and then attempting to fit the measured pipe wall temperature to the model given above by solving for HeatGain and FlowGain.

[0140] By then comparing the relative values of HeatGain and FlowGain, a measurement of the level of flow can be determined. If HeatGain is significantly larger than FlowGain (for example, if HeatGain is more than 50 times larger than FlowGain), then it is likely that there is no flow. If HeatGain is around 20 times larger than FlowGain, then convergence between the pipe and ambient temperatures can be expected to within 0.5 degrees. However, where this method is particularly useful is where a low level of flow is found; if HeatGain and FlowGain are roughly equal, then the pipe temperature will converge on a temperature which may be intermediate to the ambient and supply temperatures, which can indicate a small flow potentially indicative of a leak; we have found that this method can quickly determine such leaks.

[0141] As such, we can use a hierarchy of determinations: [0142] Actual convergence of the pipe and ambient temperatures: no flow, no leak [0143] Stable non-convergence of pipe and ambient temperatures (that is, convergence of the pipe temperature to a level intermediate to the supply and ambient temperatures): small flow indicative of a leak; [0144] Convergence fits to curve: use model to see whether pipe and ambient temperatures will converge and determine flow status in accordance with that determination.

[0145] The confidence with which the convergence fits to a curve, or to which the HeatGain/FlowGain model fits the measured data, can be used as a confidence in the determination made.

[0146] Data processed with this method can be seen in FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings. In this figure, the ambient temperature is shown on trace 50, and the pipe temperature on trace 51. The data was collected in a domestic dwelling. We can consider each of the time periods on the graph in turn: [0147] Period 52: The water in the dwelling is turned off. No flow, and the two temperatures converge to within 0.5 degrees. [0148] Period 53: The water in the dwelling is turned back on. Some flow occurs as the water system pressurises. However, the temperatures then converge. [0149] Period 54: A tap is caused to start dripping. Whilst there is no convergence, the temperature difference becomes stable, and so the HeatGain method described above will function well. [0150] Period 55: A large flow due to a toilet flushing. [0151] Period 56: The dripping tap is still dripping, so after the toilet flush, the temperatures do not converge, but remain in the relationship they were in Period 54. As such, the HeatGain method will function well. [0152] Period 57: The dripping tap is turned off; convergence occurs which implies no flow. [0153] Period 58: Toilet is flushed twice to demonstrate major flow. [0154] Period 59: A tap is turned back on again, and the temperatures stabilise without convergence, thus making the HeatGain method useful.

[0155] Data collected with the optional third temperature can be seen in FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings. In this example, trace 32 shows the ambient temperature from the second temperature sensor 11, trace 33 shows the measurements made by the third temperature sensor 20 and trace 34 shows the measurements made by the first temperature sensor 10. Time is again measured using the 24 hour clock.

[0156] It can be seen that the effect of mounting the third temperature sensor above the aluminium block 17 is to smooth the measurement of the pipe temperature. Thus, it can be seen that between 04:30 and 05:45 the trace 34 is noisier than the trace 33. This noise can be used to indicate the presence of a small flow, without having to take sufficient measurements to measure the convergence. Thus, by comparing the first and third temperature measurements, and in particular the relative noisiness of the third temperature measurement, a further flow determination can be made. It may be possible to make such a flow determination quicker than waiting for convergence, although the accuracy and precision of such a measurement are likely to be less than the convergence technique.

[0157] In one embodiment, the standard deviation of the difference in temperature is taken over a period of time. If this exceeds a first limitindicating that the data is noisythen it is likely that a low level flow is occurring. If this exceeds a higher limit, then it is likely that there is a high flow indicative of usage.

[0158] Returning now to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, it can be seen that an auxiliary housing 2 is provided in branch 16 with its own auxiliary temperature sensors 12, 13. In the same manner as above, these can be used to determine whether there is any flow (and the level of the flow) in the branch 16. Thus, if it is thought that there is a leak in the plumbing network, the auxiliary housings 2 (of which there could be many, one for each branch) can be used to determine which branch the leak is in.

[0159] The size of the divergence of the temperature of the water (and hence the pipe) on the one hand and the ambient temperature may be less when far into the plumbing network. As such, for the branches 16 deeper into the network, a heating/cooling apparatus 7 can be provided which selectively provides heating 9 or cooling 8 to the pipe 16 and hence the fluid, so as to increase the divergence in temperature when water flows. Typically, the heater 9 would be provided to heat the fluid, with smaller coolers 8 to cool preferentially the pipe 16 so that heat from the heater 9 does not propagate down the pipe rather than through the water.

[0160] The data collected may also be used to determine whether there is flowtypically a leakupstream of the first temperature sensor 12, as is illustrated in FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings. This graph shows the data collected by a first temperature sensor 12 at trace 60 and a second temperature sensor 13 at trace 61 for a particular installation over a five day period.

[0161] It can be seen that there is an upper limit on the first temperature 60that is the temperature of the pipe. We have appreciated that an upstream leak causes a downstream temperature plume in the liquid such that the pipe temperature will not go above a certain point (assuming that the supply temperature is lower than ambient; if the opposite was true, than the limit would be a floor rather than a ceiling). This effect creates a plateau in periods of no downstream flow with an upstream leak. This can be seen at times 60a, where it can be seen that the first temperature 60 will not increase above an absolute (that is, not relative) limit regardless of what the ambient temperature 61 is doing.

[0162] Thus, by analysing the first temperature to determine the presence of a limitfor example, by looking for long periods of time (e.g. greater than an hour) where the first temperature is constant as the ambient temperature changesthe presence of an upstream flow can be determined.

[0163] A further embodiment of the sensing apparatus described above with reference to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings can be seen in FIGS. 9 to 15 of the accompanying drawings. Integers corresponding to those of the embodiment of FIG. 1 have been given corresponding reference numerals, raised by 100.

[0164] In this embodiment, a housing 101 is provided, but which, out of the temperature sensors, only houses second temperature sensor 120, which therefore senses the ambient temperature local to the housing 101. The housing 101 is coupled via a flexible cable 130 to the first temperature sensor 110, which is therefore distant from the second temperature sensor.

[0165] A sensor head 140 is also provided, shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 of the accompanying drawings. This has a through bore 151 into which the first temperature sensor 110 can be inserted, and a bayonet coupling 147 which can be engaged by a corresponding locking collar 148 of the first temperature sensor, so as to lock the first temperature sensor 110 into the sensor head 140.

[0166] The sensor head also comprises a pair of jaws 141, 142, comprising fixed jaw 140 and pivoting jaw 142. Pivoting jaw 142 is mounted on the sensor head 140 through a pivoting joint 143, so that the pivoting jaw can open and close relative to the fixed jaw 141. A pair of tension springs 144 are each mounted between mounting points 145 on the jaws 141, 142 to bias the jaws together.

[0167] The first temperature sensor 110, when installed in the sensor head 140 will protrude slightly from bore 151 so as to define a contact face 139 for the sensor head. Whilst the jaws extend generally away from the contact face 139, each jaw 141, 142 has a first surface 138 which slopes inwards towards the other jaw moving away from the contact face, and a second surface 137, which slopes away from the other jaw moving away from the contact face 139. The two surfaces 137, 138 on each jaw meet at a pinch point 136.

[0168] Thus, if the jaws are pressed over a pipe so that the widest part of the pipe passes the pinch points 136, then the springs 144 will act to squeeze the jaws 141, 142 together, and so the first surfaces will force the pipe into contact with the contact face. If the pipe is not pushed in sufficiently far so that the widest part does not pass the pinch points 136, then the biasing of the jaws 141, 142 by the springs 144 will cause the second surfaces to push the pipe away relative to the sensor head 140. Thus, an installer can be confident that the sensor head has been correctly pushed onto the pipe. The jaws are also shaped to have minimal thermal contact with the pipe. The sensor head 140 will also fall off the pipe at a lower force than is required to remove standard pipe clips, so that the sensor head is pulled off before the pipe is pulled off the wall or other surface on which it is mounted.

[0169] The first temperature sensor 110 is provided with a biasing spring 149, which biases it out of the bore 147, into contact with a pipe between the jaws 141, 142.

[0170] The contact face 139 is provided with a wider portion 160, which acts to distribute the forces caused by the housing 101 dangling from the sensor head 140 by means of the flexible cable 130 along the pipe. This means that, for vertical pipes, there is less moment exerted on the pipe.

[0171] Each jaw 141, 142 is provided with a groove 136, into which a tool can be inserted to force the jaws 141, 142 apart to allow for uninstallation of the sensor head 140.

[0172] An alternative sensor head 161 is shown in FIGS. 13 to 15 of the accompanying drawings. This again has a through bore 164 for the first temperature sensor 110, provided with the same bayonet coupling 162 as for the sensor head 140 of FIGS. 10 to 12. However, rather than having jaws, it has a simple arcuate surface 163. This is useful for pipes that are larger than the jaws can fit, or which are irregularly shaped or otherwise inconvenient. The sensor head can then be attached to the pipe by means of adhesive tape, or by using tie wraps.

[0173] It can be seen that the installer of the sensor head can be provided with multiple different sensor heads, such as different sized versions of the sensor head 140 shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 as well as that of FIGS. 13 to 15. They can then choose which is most appropriate to the installation at hand, couple that to the first temperature sensor 110 and attach it to a pipe or other fluid conduit.

[0174] Other than as described above, this embodiment functions largely as that of FIG. 1. The flexible cable transmits, typically, the output of the first temperature sensor 110a signal indicative of temperatureto the housing 101, which will house the transmitter 22 and possibly also a processor. By housing the second temperature sensor 120 distant from the pipeallowing it to dangle from the pipetemperature changes in the pipe will have less effect than if the housing were directly mounted on the pipe as in the embodiment of FIG. 1. Furthermore, there the sensor heads 140, 161 are smaller than the housings 1, 2 of the embodiment of FIG. 1 and are more convenient to install, with the bulky parts of the housing 101 being spaced from the potentially congested pipe area by the flexible cable 130.

[0175] Whilst in this embodiment the second temperature sensor 120 is shown in the housing 101, it could also be in the sensor head 140, 161; that would be closer to the first temperature sensor 110, but would mean that the thermal mass and the potential heating effects of the housing 101 containing the processor etc would have less effect on the measured second temperature (that is, ambient temperature).

[0176] Using multiple auxiliary temperature sensors 12, 13 as shown in FIG. 1 in a single building allows the formulation of a situational profile of water movement through the building. Measurements can be taken from feed pipes to header tanks, exit pipes from header tanks, in building pipework locations (branch points) through to end point usages e.g. toilet cistern or a tap. The collation of the data allows: [0177] 1. A thermal profile of how water travels through the building showing points of thermal loss to the liquid as well as thermal gain to the liquid. [0178] 2. What water flows through which tanks and whena hydraulic profile as shown in FIG. 16 of the accompanying drawings. In this figure, traces of the pipe temperature leading from three different tanks is shown over a time period of four days; the top trace is only used roughly a third of the way through the trace (where there is a sudden drop in temperature), whereas for the other two tanks, significant drops and so flows occur roughly halfway and two thirds of the way through the traces; [0179] 3. What water flows through which branches and whenhydraulic profile [0180] 4. Identification of dead ends or low usage points [0181] 5. Legionella risk points due to no flow or thermal variances [0182] 6. Areas of leakagespecific network branches [0183] 7. Identification of user patternse.g. which toilets get used most often and therefore need more maintenance and or cleaningas shown in FIG. 17 of the accompany drawings, in which the usage for each of the locations listed on the right hand side of the graph are shown in that order for each day (DHW being domestic hot water).

[0184] The remote processor 21 may be that of a mobile telephone, such as an iPhone sold by Apple Inc, or a dedicated device such as a hub receiving signals from several housings. The processing of the temperature signals to produce a flow determination can be carried out in a processor in the housingtypically that of the transmitter 22, 22aso that the transmitter transmits only the flow indication (typically as events such as differing levels of flow). Alternatively, the transmitter 22, 22a can transmit the temperature signals to the remote processor 21 which can then make the flow determination.

[0185] The functions described above can be implemented in an application (an app), communicating with any number of housings 1, 2, typically in one plumbing network. Alerts can be configured to notify a user should there be a flow above a threshold for a given period (indicative of a small persistent leak) or if there is significant flow at an unexpected time (for example, a substantial flow in the middle of the night or when the occupants are on holiday).

[0186] An alternative embodiment of a data collection system is shown in FIG. 18 of the accompanying drawings. In this system, there are a plurality of locations 200 such as individual houses. Each location has one or more data capture devices 201, which would typically be the housings 1, 2 discussed above. Each of these data capture devices will capture data (here, either temperatures or flow determinations) and store the data until it can be transmitted on as discussed below. Each data capture device 201 will comprise a transmitter, which will use a relatively short range transmission protocol such as Bluetooth, wifi or Zigbee, which can be received in a reception area 202 for each data capture device.

[0187] The system will comprise a plurality of mobile telecommunications devices 203, such as mobile telephones running a suitable application stored in a memory and run on a processor. Each mobile telecommunications device will have a receiver for the relatively short range transmission protocol, and a transceiver for a mobile telecommunications network (such as GPRS or 3GPP). When each mobile telecommunications device 203 passes into a reception area 202, it will receive the data that has been captured by the relevant data capture devices 201. It will then pass that data over the mobile telecommunications network to a central server 204.

[0188] Typically, each of the mobile telecommunications devices 203 will be associated with at least one data capture device 201, and typically all of the data capture devices at a given location 200 (say, the user's home). The mobile telecommunications devices 203 will receive data and transmit it to the central server 204 regardless of whether it is associated with the relevant data capture devices. However, each mobile telecommunications device 203 will only allow the user access to data from data capture devices 201 with which it is associated.

[0189] The central server 204 will then typically transmit the data from each data capture device 201 back to the mobile telecommunications device 203 with which the data capture device 201 is associated. This may not be necessary if the central server 204 received the data from the mobile telecommunications device 203 with which the data capture device 201 was associated; indeed, in such a case the mobile telecommunications does not necessarily need to transmit that data to the central server 204.

[0190] Accordingly, any mobile telecommunications device 204 passing the locations 200 through the reception areas 202 can cause the data to be uploaded to the central server, so that a user can then access it. This is helpful where the data is the temperature or flow data discussed above, as that means that a user may be able to receive information about flows in the pipework of their house when they are absent, if a third party running the application on their mobile telecommunications device has happened, serendipitously or otherwise, to pass through the reception area 202. In effect, the data collection has been crowd sourced.

[0191] As such, we have found the apparatus discussed above with respect to the various embodiments can provide an indication that there is a flow down to 0.2 litres per hour (0.06 ml/second). It is not invasive, in that no penetration of the pipe or measurement equipment inside the pipe is required. It requires only very simple componentsthe temperature sensors can be thermistors, for example. Overall, it provides a cheap and flexible way to make a flow determination.

[0192] The data generated by this embodiment can be used in multiple situations. Examples include leak detection, the monitoring of particularly domestic water usage patterns or even ensuring temperature and flow rates are sufficient to avoid legionella proliferation.