In Flim-Flam, Calif., the city had a bright idea to help conserve water by implementing smart meters to monitor usage. But things didn’t go exactly as planned.
First of all, the city council appointed a guy named Bob to oversee the project. Bob, unfortunately, had just binge-watched “Silicon Valley” and thought he was a tech genius. He declared that the smart meters would be hooked up to an artificial intelligence system that could predict when residents would need to pee and adjust water flow accordingly.
Next, they hired a team of contractors, led by a guy named Todd. Todd was a bit of a hippie and insisted that all the smart meters be powered by renewable energy. So he had his team hook up solar panels on every rooftop in town, plus a few on the back of his old VW bus for good measure.
The smart meters were finally installed, and residents were curious to see how they worked. But instead of saving water, the meters seemed to be creating more problems. One family reported that their meter was constantly blinking a red light and beeping like crazy, even though they weren’t using any water. Turned out their pet parrot had figured out how to turn on the faucet with its beak and had been using the sink as a bird bath.
Another family said their meter kept shutting off the water in the middle of a shower because it thought they were using too much. They called Bob to complain, but he just told them to take quicker showers. “It’s good for your skin!” he said.
Overall, the smart meters seemed to be causing more headaches than they solved. Eventually, Bob and Todd were fired, and the city went back to using old-fashioned water meters. The only smart thing they did from then on was to remind residents to turn off the faucet while brushing their teeth. Maybe they should have just started with that.
