This is one of many money saving ideas listed on https://sites.google.com/site/nodemcu12e/.
I save over $1,500/year with them.
Water saving alone is $1,000/year but that is due to ridiculously high charges in my area.
Water saving is 80% by correcting leaks, conservation as well as substituting free groundwater for toilets as described with a fully automatic system. https://sites.google.com/site/nodemcu12e/#zero
If your electric water heater is a long way from the shower preheat the water in between and save water, time and energy.
https://sites.google.com/site/nodemcu12e/#preheater
I even collect and use water from the condensing gas furnace in the winter to flush toilets. https://sites.google.com/site/nodemcu12e/#condensate
Water from a/c or if you have a sump pump could be used in the summer as well.
When you see the massive water usage of lawn watering you may be interested in conserving using this project: https://sites.google.com/site/nodemcu12e/#irrigation
Stop paying sewer charges for water that doesn't go down the sewer.
Of course the tiny wifi webcams can also be used for home security and at the birdfeeder as shown. For only $10 each you can afford to put them everywhere. There is a small amount of I/O available for other uses as well. No app neaded to see the video or take a still picture. Just put the IP address of the cam in a browser.
Nice project, I have following questions:
- How often do you make a picture?
- How did you managed power supply?
- Does it have some digital output already? Is it an open standard interface?
Here in Netherlands we have electricity meter as a hub, it is able to collect data from other smart meters (I have only gas at the moment). Water is relatively cheap here, so smart water meters are not that common yet. There is open standard for smart meters, but I have only electricity and gas connected.
For the record: I've build another solution for the same problem: #Hacking Water Meter , it is battery powered and uses 2 inductive sensors printed on PCB. Both approaches have their strong benefits, it is matter of situation on site and personal preferences I think.