“This hack is a proof of concept that shuts off power only to the level of the house that has been flooded, allowing for normal use elsewhere
Story
I recently got to know a person from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Just this past year, there was a record breaking flood there, and when I asked her about it, she gave me an eye-opening account about how it has affected her life. As global warming continues to progress, flooding has gone from a rare occurrence to a commonplace issue in New Brunswick. This past May, the water level rose around 5.8 meters, which was never seen since 1973. Citizens were stranded, public services were cancelled, and many had to relocate for weeks.
What struck me was the fact that a huge number of people were negatively impacted even if their home was still partially flood-free. Out of fear of electrocution, the city shuts off power to grids at a time, blacking out whole areas. Given the fact that it takes weeks for a flood to subside, many families are forced to move out as their phones die out or when their food turns bad, even if most of their home is still inhabitable.
To tackle this issue, this proof of concept system uses water sensors to check for flooding at each level of the house, and only shuts off power to the flooded level. This allows families with a secondary power supply to safely access their homes’ built-in electrical grid and maintain a decent quality of life during a flood. Moreover, the control unit uses is connected to the internet so that in case of flooding, the homeowner can be notified immediately. This system is made with the assumption that the homeowner is willing to waterproof their circuit breaker and rewire the home so that there aren’t any multi-floor sections of wiring.”