Is the driveway flooded?

[ard jonker]

On 23 Feb 2022, at 23:47, Chad Gard <chad at holeinthewoodsfarm.com> wrote:
> My main concern with a float switch solution is some critter making it so the floats can’t float, and/or chomping the wires. 

I can vow for this type of sensor that I run off 12V:
	https://www.ebay.com/itm/224362543633
	https://www.ebay.com/itm/384546075886
which sense through non-metal materials with a wall thickness of up to a few mm (that is three sixteenth of an inch if you are used to imperical).
Don't be fooled by the metal look of the pipe shown in some pictures; the pipe is acryllic, then it does work.
If the pipe were metal, that wouldn't work if fluid is inside the pipe (I tried ;-) )

Place a few of them inside a square pipe at key heights, hermetically close the pipe and mount it in the flooding area.
These units pull down their output pin when sensing water, so it is an easy job with arduino or alike, to detect using a resistor-pulled-up pin.
Intermittently power them up with long intervals (minutes) to save power; they draw some 10 mA each so batteries quickly drain.
The job of getting the signals the signal to the home is left as an exercise for the student.

Ard