Disaggregated water sensing from a single, pressure-based sensor: An extended analysis of HydroSense using staged experiments

TitleDisaggregated water sensing from a single, pressure-based sensor: An extended analysis of HydroSense using staged experiments
Publication TypeJournal Articles
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsLarson E, Froehlich J, Campbell T, Haggerty C, Atlas L, Fogarty J, Patel SN
JournalPervasive and Mobile Computing
Volume8
Issue1
Pagination82 - 102
Date Published2012/02//
ISBN Number1574-1192
KeywordsActivity sensing, H1.2, H5.2, Infrastructure-mediated sensing, Sensors, Water usage
Abstract

We present an extended analysis of our previous work on the HydroSense technology, which is a low-cost and easily installed single-point sensor of pressure for automatically disaggregating water usage activities in the home (Froehlich et al., 2009 [53]). We expand upon this work by providing a survey of existing and emerging water disaggregation techniques, a more comprehensive description of the theory of operation behind our approach, and an expanded analysis section that includes hot versus cold water valve usage classification and a comparison between two classification approaches: the template-based matching scheme used in Froehlich et al. (2009) [53] and a new stochastic approach using a Hidden Markov Model. We show that both are successful in identifying valve- and fixture-level water events with greater than 90% accuracies. We conclude with a discussion of the limitations in our experimental methodology and open problems going forward.

URLhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574119210000842
DOI10.1016/j.pmcj.2010.08.008