What is a battery backup unit (BBU) sump pump? A battery backup unit (BBU) sump pump is a secondary sump pump powered by a 12V deep cycle battery that automatically protects your basement if power goes out, or if the primary sump pump fails. What is Virtual Water Assistant? The Virtual Water Assistant solution protects your home and your investment by constantly monitoring conditions, activating a backup pump when needed, and alerting you (by text message or e mail) when your basement is in danger of flooding. How does Virtual Water Assistant work? Virtual Water Assistant is a cloud based wireless ecosystem that enables 2 way communication between you and your device. Your device communicates to the cloud by wirelessly transmitting to the gateway that is plugged into your home s router. Once the data is in the cloud you can access it through the Virtual Water Assistant website using a smartphone, tablet or computer. Whether you are at home, on vacation, at work, or anywhere else in the world with internet connection, you can communicate with your system and be confident that your home is protected from costly water damage. Why should I buy a Virtual Water Assistant compatible BBU? For the added convenience, security, and peace of mind of being able to use your smartphone, computer or tablet to monitor your BBU. Easy To Install And Use Plug And Play Wireless Setup With No Wiring To Run In Your Home Provides Advanced Notification When Your Home Is In Danger Of Flooding No Long Term Contracts, Cancel At Any Time Remotely Test Your System From Anywhere In The World Access To Helpful Resources To Help Keep Your Basement Dry How much does the Virtual Water Assistant connectivity service cost? Your first year of service is free of charge. Thereafter the service fee is $19.99 annually. Are apps available for Virtual Water Assistant? No. We use a mobile website.
What types of cell phones can I use with Virtual Water Assistant? Any cell phone can receive text alerts from the Virtual Water Assistant. If you have a cell phone that has internet service you can access the Virtual Water Assistant site for full monitoring of your device. How do I set up my Virtual Water Assistant Account? Complete installation of the BBU Connect the Virtual Water Assistant gateway to your home router using the Ethernet cable provided Connect power supply to gateway Verify the BBU is connected wirelessly to the gateway Log on to www.virtualwaterassistant.com Create your account using either a computer (recommended), tablet or smart phone Follow the steps at login to create your account and program the system How far can my BBU be from my gateway. Open field range is 1000 feet, though we cannot guarantee distance since each home environment is unique. The gateway uses a 900 MHZ radio that helps it pass through obstructions such as walls in the home environment. My router is a long distance from the BBU, and the internet gateway is having difficulty connecting to the BBU. What should I do? You can use a longer Ethernet cable (up to 100 ft) to position the internet gateway closer to your BBU. Can I use a longer or different Ethernet cable with the internet gateway? Yes. You can use any 10BaseT CAT5 or better Ethernet cable. The internet gateway has been tested and is fully operational with Ethernet cables of up to 100 ft lengths. Longer cables may work (e.g. 300 ft), but not guaranteed. Can I connect the internet gateway directly to my computer? No. You must connect the
internet gateway to a router and the router must have a continuously active internet connection (also known as broadband internet). Do I have to have a router to use the internet gateway? Yes. A router with an Ethernet port and a continuously active internet connection is required. What types of routers work with the internet gateway? Almost every home router is known to work with the internet gateway. Does the system require a wireless (Wi Fi) router? No, it does not have to be wireless. Can I use the internet gateway with a dial up internet connection? No. The internet gateway requires a continuous internet connection, typically called broadband internet and requires a router active on the internet. Can I use the internet gateway with a commercial internet or business internet connection or business LAN environment? Yes. In general the internet gateway should work with many commercial or business internet connection and LAN environment. There are systems with advanced firewalls that may cause a problem with the gateway. Can I change the LAN address of the internet gateway or modify any of the internet gateway LAN settings? No, you cannot change the LAN address (such as 192.168.0.2) of the internet gateway. The LAN address is assigned by the router and does not need user involvement, however, typically resetting the gateway will cause the gateway to request a new ID from the router. All LAN and internet connection settings of the internet gateway are factory set and cannot be changed. There is no need to change any of the internet gateway's internal settings. Will the internet gateway slow down my internet connection? No. The internet gateway data
transmission is very minimal and is only active when sending a message, such as when the backup pump has been activated or the command has been sent to test the pump. You will not experience any speed reduction to your internet connection. Will my slow internet connection affect my internet gateway operation? No. The internet gateway will not be affected by a slow internet connection. The internet gateway data transmission is very minimal and is only active when sending a message, such as when the backup pump has been activated or the command has been sent to test the pump. Does the internet gateway use my home Wi Fi signal or interfere with my home Wi Fi. No. Virtual Water Assistant products transmit and receive on a different radio frequency band than your home Wi Fi. The two will not interfere with one another. How many devices can I control with my internet gateway? The internet gateway can monitor and control up to 16 devices. Virtual Water Assistant BBU s are a "device." Future Virtual Water Assistant devices are planned. Please visit VirtualWaterAssistant.com for information as it becomes available. Can I install the Gateway Ethernet cable Router connection outside? No. The internet gateway is designed for indoor temperatures and an indoor environment. You need to locate the internet gateway within the house or within a heated/cooled building. If my internet connection stops working, how do I monitor my BBU? If you've lost your internet connection, regardless of the cause, you will NOT be able to communicate with your BBU. If your connection is lost for more than 15 minutes you will receive an alert. Regardless of the connection your BBU will continue to protect your home. How secure is Virtual Water Assistant? The Virtual Water Assistant internet gateway is secure and uses internet standard data encryption for data security. Only someone that knows both your User ID and password can access your account.
How secure is the wireless connection between the internet gateway and my BBU? Can someone nearby intercept the signal? The wireless connection between the internet gateway and your BBU uses a highly complex encryption scheme. Persons in the vicinity of your home will not be able to operate your BBU. What do you do with my email address and with my house address? Your name, user ID, password, email address, and house address is kept confidential by us and is only used to contact you concerning your Virtual Water Assistant account. I understand that Virtual Water Assistant transmits at 900 MHz. I have other 900 MHz products within my home. Will they interfere with one another? They should not interfere with one another. Virtual Water Assistant products only transmit infrequently and only when necessary, such as when an alert condition is triggered. How many log in User ID's can I have on one account? You can have only one User ID with an associated password on your account. Other persons in your household can use the same User ID and password to access your account, thereby allowing them to monitor, silence alarms and test your BBU as needed. How many people can use my account? Any quantity of people can use your account once you tell them your User ID and password. Otherwise, keep your password secure and private. How many internet gateways can I have on my account? You can have many internet gateways on one account, such as one internet gateway at your main home and another internet gateway at your vacation home. Whenever you access your account, you be able to monitor and control the BBU s at either house. Can I upgrade / retro fit my existing BBU to Virtual Water Assistant? Virtual Water Assistant
upgrade kits for current BBU s are not available and not currently planned. What does the light on the internet gateway indicate? The light on the internet gateway indicates its current operational status. The solid Green indicates an active internet connection (will blink off infrequently with data traffic. Quick blinking Green indicates data traffic between BBU and server. Slow blinking Green (1 2 blinks per second) indicates the gateway is connected locally (residential router is speaking to the gateway) but cannot find the cloud server. The light displaying a solid Red indicate power is to the gateway but there is no connection / communication with the local router. Slow blinking Red indicates gateway and router are communicating but the router cannot assign a DHCP or DNS to the gateway. No light indicates no power to the gateway or a power supply/gateway fault. Can I turn off the alarm the BBU makes when the pump runs? Yes, the alarm can be silenced manually at the BBU, or remotely from the Virtual Water Assistant website. How do I remove a BBU from my account? Go to your Virtual Water Assistant account on the internet and find the drop down menu in the upper RH corner. Under Equipment Management follow the instructions for deleting a device from the account. How many different phones can I use to monitor and control my BBU? The system is limited to 3 phone numbers for text alerts. However, there is no limit to the quantity of phones you can use to monitor and control your BBU. But, you must use the same user ID and password when accessing to your Virtual Water Assistant account. Why is my equipment detail page showing my device is Offline? Verify your gateway light is solid green. If not, see gateway troubleshooting. Verify your left most light on your BBU is on. If not, see internet connection troubleshooting. Refresh your web browser to get the latest status of your device. Why do I get e mail messages and not text? Verify on the website that you have selected that
you want text messages. Under My equipment detail page hit the "Manage Notifications" link and select text. How do I verify that my alerts are going to the correct phone numbers and e mail. The easiest way to test an alert is to unplug the BBU home power for 10 seconds. Verify that the alert was received at all the phones and e mail and make sure the power has been reconnected to the BBU. Why do I get text messages and no e mail messages? Verify on the website that you have selected that you want e mail messages. Under my equipment detail page hit the "Manage Notifications" and select e mail. Verify that this message isn t going to your spam e mail. Why don't I get messages? Verify on the website that you have selected that you want messages. Under your equipment hit the "Manage Notifications" and select either Text, E mail or both. How often should I test my system? We recommend that you manually test your system by physically lifting the float switch in your sump pit at least once a year prior to the rainy season. We recommend that the test system button on the BBU or VWA site be pressed once a month or prior to an extended absence. What do I do if my Device ID Key states it is invalid or already in use? Verify you have entered the number correctly. The format is PPA12345678 XX. There is a Device ID Key is on a small label on the back of the control unit. Verify that this number matches the number on your manual. (Note that there are 2 letters or numbers below PPA and must be entered after a dash following the format: PPA12345678 XX) If the numbers are different, use the one on the control unit. Contact Customer Service I didn't receive an e mail after resetting my password?
Verify the e mail that you have listed on the account. Check your junk or spam folder for the e mail. Try to resetting the password again.