Zurn Elkay launches smart backflow monitoring in Canada

Zurn Elkay Canada has launched smart connected backflow prevention technology for commercial and institutional facilities, designed to give operators real-time visibility into water systems.

The launch comes as facility owners face rising water costs, ageing infrastructure and continued pressure to maintain safe, reliable potable water systems. Backflow preventers are widely used to protect drinking water, but many still rely on periodic manual inspections rather than continuous monitoring.

The connected system is designed to track pressure, flow and discharge events across a building's water network. According to Zurn Elkay, this can help facilities identify leaks, detect abnormal discharge in real time and spot pressure changes that may affect equipment performance.

For operators of large estates, the key benefit is constant remote oversight. Instead of waiting for scheduled inspections or responding after a failure, maintenance teams can monitor water systems throughout the day and act when data points to an emerging issue.

That is particularly relevant in sectors where water disruptions can quickly interrupt services or cause property damage. Zurn Elkay highlighted airports, hospitals, schools and retail centres as potential users of the technology.

In airports, water systems support large numbers of passengers across extensive sites, including washrooms, food outlets and operational areas. A failure in one part of the network can lead to flooding, service disruption and reputational damage if public facilities are forced out of use.

Hospitals present a different level of risk, as water pressure and water quality can affect patient care, specialist equipment and infection control. Across health systems with multiple buildings or satellite sites, remote monitoring may also reduce the need for local manual checks while giving estates teams a broader view of network performance.

Schools and universities face a separate budget challenge. They often manage older buildings with constrained maintenance budgets, making emergency repairs especially costly when a flood or water failure disrupts teaching space.

Retailers and shopping centres face similar exposure, as a single water incident can damage stock and force a temporary closure. In those settings, early alerts can mean the difference between a contained maintenance issue and wider business interruption.

Manual to connected

The shift reflects a broader move towards digital monitoring in building services. Heating, ventilation, security and energy systems have long been integrated into smart building platforms, while water systems have often remained less visible unless a problem becomes obvious.

Connected backflow monitoring brings water infrastructure closer to that model by adding data collection and remote alerts to an established safety device. In practice, this allows facilities to build a picture of daily water use and longer-term trends, which may also support budgeting and water conservation efforts.

The commercial case rests on risk reduction as much as efficiency. Flooding, unplanned downtime and emergency call-outs can create costs far beyond the repair itself, especially at sites where disruption affects public access, clinical operations or tenant trading.

Emily Simpson, Director of General Sales and Marketing at Zurn Elkay Canada, said the technology changes the level of oversight available to maintenance teams.

"Smart connected backflow prevention gives facility teams clarity and control they simply didn't have before," said Emily Simpson, Director of General Sales and Marketing at Zurn Elkay Canada.

She said the value lies in acting before a minor fault becomes a larger operational issue.

"By combining real-time monitoring with predictive insights, organizations can protect their water systems, reduce operating risk and make smarter decisions before a small issue becomes a costly disruption," Simpson said.

Zurn Elkay's pitch also reflects the growing prominence of water stewardship in facility management. With utility costs under pressure and environmental targets becoming more common across large property portfolios, building owners are seeking more detailed information on consumption, system health and avoidable waste.

Smart backflow monitoring does not replace physical equipment or compliance checks, but it adds a layer of data that could change how those assets are managed. For many operators, the appeal will depend on whether the technology can reduce the frequency and severity of incidents that lead to repairs, closures and insurance claims.

According to the company, maintenance crews using pressure and flow monitoring can detect leaks and abnormal discharge events in real time, understand daily and long-term water consumption trends, identify pressure fluctuations that affect equipment performance, and reduce flood risk, downtime and catastrophic property damage.