Fresno Kids Design App to Monitor Daily Water Use 

As the fifth largest city in California, Fresno is home to some 509,000 residents. Its location in The Golden State means that it’s currently facing its fourth year of drought and is desperately on the search for ways to cut back on water use wherever possible. For more information about this topic read: California is Imposing Mandatory Curbs on Water Use for the 1st Time – But Why? 

While local and state governments have played an important role, it’s a team of sixth grade students that has made serious progress when it comes to encouraging Californians to cut back on water use. Five local kids from Riverview Elementary have developed an innovative app that actively tracks the daily water use of households. Once it’s live, smartphone owners will be able to download the app and use it to keep tabs on how much H20 they use on a daily basis. The idea is to make residents more aware of what they use, and help them cut back where possible by taking on the 20 gallon challenge.

From classroom to boardroom

Despite the fact that the concept came to life in a sixth grade classroom the app has already attracted attention from several investors. The students first presented their idea to the Fresno City Hall back in March, where it was quickly picked up by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.

Since then, several other businesses have also jumped on board including telecommunications company AT&T and local technology hub Bitwise Industries. Together they have donated the $51,000 needed to develop the app and fast-track it to smartphones across the city. Students Noah Arsitio, Corben Beaty, Jeffrey Forbes, Evan Murai and Daniel Shin are the young minds behind the water wise concept. They hope that by giving households easy access to daily water usage statistics they can help to reduce Californian's H20 consumption.

Kevin Murai, Evan’s father and mentor to the youngsters recalls his surprise when the city first expressed serious interest in the project. “I was hoping something good would come out of it because this drought is serious” he said “but I didn’t think it would be that quick. When the city manager started talking about what it would cost and how we need to meet, I was shocked. I said to myself, ‘What?’”

California: The ‘Parched’ State

Like much of America’s West Coast, California has been locked in a drought for four consecutive years. And according to environmental scientists, the state could stay in a state of thirst for the foreseeable future. An analysis of tree ring records has shown that in the past the region has been hit by droughts that last several decades which means that residents need to start preparing for the worst.

The importance of conserving H20

So why is it so important for California to conserve H20 wherever possible? For starters, California is one of the USA’s biggest agricultural producers and is responsible for producing 25% of the country’s food yield. It also houses a growing population who demand more water for drinking, gardens, public buildings, schools and other infrastructure.

Will the app help Californian’s cut back on water usage? With a sunny summer ahead, we certainly hope so!