What Eve Water Guard does well
Eve Water Guard is a well-designed leak sensor for Apple Home. Here's what it does well:
- Long sensing cable: The included 2 m cable detects water along its entire length. With extensions it reaches up to 150 m – for example around the washing machine, water heater and boiler.
- Loud on site: A 100 dB siren and red LEDs warn right at the device. Anyone at home hears it immediately.
- Seamless in Apple Home: Set it up with your iPhone, get notifications on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and build automations in the Home app.
- No batteries: The detector plugs into a socket and, as a Thread router, strengthens the network for other devices.
- Easy to test: The Eve app regularly reminds you to run an alarm test, which plays at reduced volume. Eve recommends doing it at least every three months.
Why it falls short in a pump sump
Eve Water Guard reports water that's already there. In a basement with a pump sump or lifting station, that's late:
- Only at floor level: The alarm goes off when the cable gets wet. If the sump overflows, the water is already on the basement floor by then.
- No level, no trend: The cable only knows wet or dry. You can't see how high the water is in the pit, how fast it's rising or how much flows in when it rains.
- Pump failure goes unnoticed: Eve Water Guard can't tell whether the pump starts or how often it runs. A failed pump only shows up once water reaches the floor.
- Silent during a power outage: The detector is powered from the socket, and Eve's spec sheet lists no battery. When the power goes out, siren and notifications go quiet – usually exactly when the pump stops too.
- Home hub required: Notifications away from home and automations need a HomePod or Apple TV as a home hub, which itself needs power and internet.
- Apple only: Eve Water Guard works with Apple Home (HomeKit over Bluetooth and Thread). Eve doesn't list Matter support for it so far, and you can't set it up without an iPhone or iPad.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Drainbee | Eve Water Guard |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous water level measurement | ||
| Alert on water at floor level | ||
| Submersible probe for pump sumps | ||
| Power outage alert | ||
| Pump cycles and inflow in the app | ||
| Alert at an adjustable threshold | ||
| Siren on the device | 100 dB | |
| Native Apple Home integration | ||
| No hub needed for alerts away from home |
When do you need which?
Eve Water Guard is enough if …
- You use Apple Home and want to detect water at the washing machine, water heater, sink or boiler
- Your basement has no pump sump and no lifting station
- A loud siren on site matters to you
- You want to cover several metres of floor with one cable
Drainbee fits if …
- Your basement has a pump sump, a drainage pit or a lifting station
- You want to see the water level before anything overflows – to the centimetre
- You want to know how often the pump runs and how much water flows in when it rains
- You want a warning even when the power or WiFi goes out
Or both: Eve Water Guard on the floor around the washing machine and water heater, Drainbee in the pit. Both work independently. Drainbee has no native Apple Home integration. On your home network, though, the box exposes the level through a local, read-only JSON interface – if you like tinkering, you can pull it into Apple Home yourself, for example via Home Assistant and its HomeKit bridge.
Verdict
Eve Water Guard is a good HomeKit leak sensor for water on the floor: long sensing cable, loud siren, clean integration with Apple Home. For the laundry room and boiler room it's a sensible choice.
It doesn't monitor a pump sump. It knows no level, only notices a pump failure once the floor is wet, and goes silent when the power fails. Drainbee measures the water level in the pit, shows pump cycles and inflow, and also reports power and WiFi outages. If you need both, combine the two.
It doesn't monitor a pump sump. It knows no level, only notices a pump failure once the floor is wet, and goes silent when the power fails. Drainbee measures the water level in the pit, shows pump cycles and inflow, and also reports power and WiFi outages. If you need both, combine the two.
Frequently asked questions
Is Eve Water Guard a good HomeKit leak sensor for the basement?
For water on the basement floor, yes – for example at the washing machine, water heater or boiler. The sensing cable detects moisture along its full length, and the siren is 100 dB loud. But if your basement has a pump sump or lifting station, it only reports once the pit has already overflowed.
Can I hang the sensing cable into the pump sump?
The cable only knows wet or dry. Hanging in the pit, it can at most report that the water has reached that height – with no level, no trend and no indication of whether the pump is running. Eve describes the detector for water on the floor, not as a level measurement. Drainbee measures the water level in the pit continuously with a submersible probe (0–1 m, ±1 cm).
What happens to Eve Water Guard during a power outage?
According to its spec sheet, Eve Water Guard runs on mains power (100–240 V) and has no battery. Without power there's no siren and no notification, and the home hub and router go down too. Drainbee has no battery either: when power or WiFi drops out, the box stops reporting. The Drainbee cloud notices and warns you in the app.
Do I need a home hub for Eve Water Guard?
For notifications away from home, automations and Thread, yes: a HomePod (2nd generation), HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K (2nd generation, or 3rd generation with 128 GB). Drainbee doesn't need a hub – the box connects directly to your WiFi (2.4 GHz).
Can I add Drainbee to Apple Home?
Not directly – Drainbee has no native HomeKit or Matter integration. On your home network, though, the box provides the level through a local, read-only JSON interface (
/status). You can query it yourself, for example with a REST sensor in Home Assistant, and show the value in Apple Home through its HomeKit bridge. That's a DIY setup, not an official integration. Alerts still come through the Drainbee app.Can I combine Eve Water Guard and Drainbee?
Yes. Eve Water Guard watches the floor around the washing machine and water heater, Drainbee the water level in the pump sump. Both work independently and each warns you in its own way.