welcome to

Philip Le
http://philips3200.blogspot.com/
Motivating Instant Water Footprint
Moderation amongst Australian
Metropolitan Residents

Philip Le
 Why
Despite an ongoing national
water crisis, the behaviour of
Australians does not reflect
the consideration required for
sustainable water usage

What
BitWell tackles this problem at
one of its largest attributors—
the home. BitWell motivates
Australians to consider and
moderate their water usage on
a daily basis

How
With a simple light-based
device installed around sinks
or showers, BitWell instantly
gauges the amount of water
that flows from a valve, letting
users know when they have
used too much

Who
BitWell is specially designed
for immediate use by parents
and caregivers in the 20-34
age brackets. Its inherent
simplicity and passiveness
ensures BitWell is graspable
by these users even in spite of
their occupied lifestyles

Philip Le
 Parts
1) Arduino Duemilanove USB
board [SKU: DEV-00666]
Handles BitWell’s input and output needs

2) Triple output LED RGB –

diffused [COM-09264]
Creates the ambient lighting around the basin

3) Rotary encoder [COM-09117]

Translates the valve’s motion

4) Nine-volt battery 1
Powers the BitWell unit (optional)

5) Glue tack
Binds the components to the basin

6) Electrical tape
Proofs the components against water

7) Jumper wires
Connects the components to the Arduino

8) 10K Ω Resistor
Safeguards apparatus (embedded into wires) 2

4
5
3

7 8

Philip Le
 Assembly
The tricolour lights were first soldered
together, with all four respective pins
connecting with each other. This parallel
arrangement consequently reduces the
output requirements to just one set of four
pins, without the need for additional
transistors. Meanwhile the rotary encoder
was inverted then positioned atop one of
the valves, with glue tack used as
adhesive and leverage. Electrical tape was
then applied to the wiring to shield BitWell
from water exposure.

Philip Le
Philip Le
 How it Works
For a device that motivates water sustainability in the
home, BitWell is surprisingly simple.

BitWell starts when you turn the tap on, which turn
the lights blue. When it remains open the lights
gradually change to green, then yellow, and finally,
red. If the tap is still on after the lights turn red, they
will flicker until you turn the tap off. Once you do, the
lights begin to change colour in reverse until they
reach blue. If the tap is still off, the lights dim down
and turn off.

Like a Well
BitWell turns your sink into a well, where the
lights show how much water you have
used, and thus how much water is flowing
out of the well:

Blue: Full of water

Green: Lots of water left
Yellow: Some water remaining
Red: Drained

Indicators
The way the lights act represents the stages
a water well undergoes:

Plenitude: When the sink is idle for long

enough, the lights stay off

Depletion: When the taps are on, the lights

gradually change to red

Repletion: When the taps are turned off, the

lights gradually revert to blue

Desiccation: When the taps are left on for

too long, the lights blink red

Philip Le
Philip Le
Philip Le
 Special Thanks to…
Andy Dong for your ongoing guidance throughout this design process
Patrick Wang for resolving the numerous electronics-related enquiries I presented
Dinh Huynh for your electronic provisions, as well as your help in assembling BitWell
Keith Neufeld for your purpose-built proprietary quadrature rotary encoder library

Philip Le
coming in

Philip Le
University of Sydney
NSW 2006, Australia
+61 423 957 103
phle1749@uni.sydney.edu.au Philip Le