Friendly Neighborhood

Wildfire can damage more than a building. Broken household plumbing can also affect the water network around it. Friendly Neighborhood explores a heat-triggered valve at each home’s water meter that isolates a burning structure from the shared water system.

A small intervention. A shared resource.

I led the team in developing a design intended to preserve hydrant pressure and reduce the risk of post-fire contamination. The work included pressure, force, and flow calculations, component research, and backflow-protection and fail-safe shutoff design. The project placed second among 46 teams at Origin Weekend.

Backed by the numbers.

We documented $382–442 million in water-system damage across six wildfires, verified every pressure, force, and flow rate with engineering calculations, and specified backflow protection and a fail-safe shutoff using certified components. The design is priced at $460–950 per home, aligned with LADWP’s specifications.

$382–442M

in water-system damage documented across six wildfires

$460–950

estimated cost per home, aligned with LADWP specifications

2nd / 46

teams at Origin Weekend

• Isolate damaged homes from the wider water network.
• Consider firefighting water pressure and post-fire water quality together.
• Use engineering calculations to evaluate the design concept.

Engineering design concept; performance in an actual wildfire has not been established here.