DontFlushMe was created by Leif Percifield (MFADT 2012) to allow NYC residents to help reduce the amount of pollution in the harbor. Some 27 billion gallons of raw sewage are dumped into the harbor every year. This is the largest source of water pollution in New York. This comes from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) that open when the sewer system is overloaded. The idea is to enable residents to understand when the overflows happen and reduce their wastewater production before and during an overflow event. Custom sensors will be created and placed in key CSO locations throughout the city. The information collected will be available via a wide ranging alert network. Participants will be able to receive text message alerts to their cell phone, view alerts on a website and via twitter, as well as calling a local phone number for realtime updates. An internet connected lightbulb has also been developed in conjunction with this project. This provides colored light based on the sewer level and can be used in any standard light fixture.

More info at http://dontflush.me

Press:
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/blogs/dontflushme-a-nyc-sewage-level-alert-system
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13632206
http://blog.pachube.com/2011/06/internet-of-sewage-and-leif-percifields.html

Tax deductible donations to the project:
https://ioby.org/project/dontflushme