Dumb tech: Moen faucet sensor vs mug

[ionelv]

This morning I was first in the office and as I entered the kitchen to grab some coffee, I noticed that one of the two faucets was running (probably for many hours) even though lever was in off position. I turn it on then off and the faucet shut off. Thirty seconds later, as I am finally getting my coffee, the faucet turns on again. I repeat the on/off procedure and I stick around for a bit. Faucet turns on again by itself. I finally notice by accident that the faucet has a motion sensor on its left side facing the soap dispenser. I remove the mug, wait around a few minutes: problem solved.

Moral of the story: the smartest tech (e.g. motion sensor for hands free faucet operation) can be “defeated” by the dumbest objects (e.g. mug placed at just the right place to trigger the motion sensor and waste tens of gallons of water).

PS: I tried replicating the original conditions by putting the mug again roughly in the same place and I could not trigger the faucet’s sensor again.