Kid-Invented Water Watcher Keeps Close Eye On Your Shower Wastage

Aw, here’s a cute piece of news: 12-year-old inventor Elizabeth Rintel has won the grand prize in a “Going Green Challenge” by youth media company By Kids For Kids with her “Water Watcher,” a device that measures and monitors water usage in the shower. The gadget, which can be fastened to any shower or faucet, sounds a beep and signals a red light every time a half-gallon of water is used. Cutting your shower short by just one minute could save 1,000 gallons of water per year, no small amount as our world possibly approaches the days of Peak Water.

For her invention, Rintel will receive US$10,000 cash and spend a day “shadowing” an eco-expert from Leonardo DiCaprio’s 11th Hour Action website, devoted to sustainable-living practices. All well and good, but when I was 12 years old, I probably would’ve been more excited if the prize involved shadowing Romeo himself. Maybe this is why I never won cool competitions like this in middle school. [Cnet]