The Internet of Sewage and Leif Percifield's "dontflush.me" revolution

Pachube Pioneer: Leif Percifield
Resides: Brooklyn, NYC
Occupation: Parsons Grad Student
Web: http://dontflush.me
Pachube Feed #24004: http://pachu.be/24004
Data: Water level of overflow sewer

Some 27 billion gallons of raw sewage is dumped in NY Harbor every year.  This harmful waste comes from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) that open when the sewer system fills up with runoff during wet weather.  However, by measuring the water level at a CSO, it's possible to know when an overflow event is likely to occur.  If residents of the city were notified that such event was imminent, they could make conscious decisions to use less water and take a little pressure off of the system.  At the least, they can make sure what's in their own toilet bowl doesn't end up in the Harbor!  Multiplied a million times over, a serious issue plaguing urban environments could be avoided.



Armed with an Arduino rigged up to a cell phone, Leif Percifield is making it happen. Waste water levels are sent to Pachube via SMS, then made available  to users in real-time via Pachube's Twitter and SMS gateways.  Moreover, Leif has another hardware up his sleave, the "Bulbuino". The Bulbuino is a connected light bulb that gives users a more constant, ambient connection to the data as it is streamed to Pachube via changes in color in real-time.

Next steps for Leif are:

1. Get some funding to deploy more sensors (it costs over $40/month for data plans, batteries, etc for just one sensor).  You can donate HERE!
2. Get everyone in one building using the service and a Bulbuino, and mashup the data with a new tool from the NYC DEP that allows building water use to be tracked on a daily basis.  Leif could then find out if dontflush.me is actually working!
   

The best part is that this system could be a driver for any number of smart city applications that can leverage water usage data, both at the individual building level and across a city!  Awesome!