Playdrop, which is a small start-up, wants to make something noble that California desperately needs -- it wants to help people save water.

The Playdrop system uses water flow sensors attached to a LinkIt board. The general idea is simple. The sensor tells LinkIt board how much water you are using or wasting at any given moment. You can see the data over the connected cloud.

The system also includes flood sensors to tell you if any of pipes have burst. If that critical event happens, the LinkIt based system will send an SMS alert telling you that you have to do something about it.

After the notification, you can connect to the system with your Smartphone, log in and activate the central valve and turn off the water supply. Of course a valve controlled mechanically will have to be connected to the system.

The new startup has got a lot of traction for its project. Water supply companies including the Barcelona water supply company have shown interest in a water monitoring system that is connected to the secured cloud. LinkIt is an inexpensive platform and it doesn’t need power.

Jens Griviolla a Co-Creator of the PlayDrop claimed that the development was quick.

We started developing learning about platform, which we never seen before,  on a Sunday afternoon and had to finish it all up by Monday morning. Monday early afternoon, we were presenting the final prototype.

This gives you the idea that LinkIt is easy to program. Those with any experience with microcontroller programming should have no problem at all programming such a system, but the best thing is that the development environment is easy to learn even for total beginners.

The agricultural manufacturers can also benefit as they can keep track how much water  they use. It comes to mind that Mr Griviolla could include the humidity sensor and then make a wider case for its IoT platform and use it to monitor watering your garden.