Circuit & Soil

Know before the tank runs dry — and before the pump kills itself.

A weekend build, about $200 of parts, that texts you when your water level drops or your pump starts running dry. Written up step by step by an Australian electrician who got sick of finding out the hard way.

What you get

Full parts list with Australian suppliers and current prices — no guessing at substitutes
Wiring diagram, plus the enclosure and IP rating that actually survives outside
Home Assistant config you can paste in, and the alerts set up properly
Troubleshooting for the three things that always go wrong first
A clearly marked line showing what a licensed electrician has to connect

The sensing side is extra-low-voltage and yours to build. Anything touching the pump's 240 V supply is licensed work — the pack shows you exactly where that line sits so your sparky can do their bit in twenty minutes instead of an afternoon.

$69 for the first hundred, then $89. Parts are about $200 on top — an installer quote for the same thing runs past $2,000.

It's not finished yet. I'm building it on my own tank first so I can photograph every step, including the parts I get wrong. Leave your email and I'll send it the day it's done, at the launch price.

G'day — I'm Sharma. I'm an electrician in the Northern Rivers. We run off tank water, and I've replaced enough burnt-out pumps to want a warning instead of a surprise. So I built one, and I'm writing down exactly how.