I’ve been a loyal Samsung user for about 15 years, and if there’s one thing that’s always frustrated me, it’s the gradual slowdown. I have always wanted to make my Samsung phone faster. I’ve spent ages trying to figure out how to optimize their software and deal with the bloatware to make my phones feel faster.
The secret is surprisingly simple: turn off animations and the virtual memory function.
A couple of days ago, I finally stumbled on the real trick—a game-changer for my Samsung Galaxy S21, and it works just as well on the S24 (and I bet it will on the S25, too).
Here’s exactly how you do it.
Step 1: Unlock Developer Mode
First things first, you need to enable Developer Mode. Don’t worry, it’s hidden but super easy to unlock.
Go to Settings.
Scroll all the way down and tap on About phone.
Tap on Software information.
Find the Build number and tap on it rapidly 7 times. You’ll see a small message pop up telling you that “Developer mode has been turned on.”
Step 2: Turn Off Animations
Now that you’re a developer, you can get to the hidden settings that speed things up.
Go back to your main Settings menu. You’ll now see a new option at the very bottom called Developer options. Tap on it.
Scroll down until you find the “Drawing” section.
You need to change three settings here. Tap on each one and set it to “Animation off”:
Window animation scale
Transition animation scale
Animator duration scale
Disabling these makes the phone feel incredibly snappy because it no longer has to render the “whoosh” effects when you open apps or switch menus.
You can also disable animations more generally via Accessibility. See this article on how to do it.
Step 3: Disable Virtual Memory (RAM Plus)
This is the second half of the secret. Samsung’s virtual memory feature, RAM Plus, can sometimes do more harm than good for performance.
To do this, you need to turn off RAM Plus. To get here, go to: Settings > Device Care > Memory > RAM Plus. It was at the bottom of the screen for me. You may need to reboot.
The Important Downside to Know
Now, this fix isn’t without a potential side-effect. RAM Plus is designed to help when you run out of physical memory. If you are a heavy multitasker who keeps dozens of apps open at once, you might see some erratic behavior once you hit your phone’s physical RAM limit.
Honestly, though, I think Android’s memory management should be good enough on its own, and the speed boost is worth it for most people.
That’s It!
So there you have it. After years of searching around on how to make My samsung phone faster, these simple tweaks have truly transformed my Samsung phones. My S24 feels as fast as it did on day one.
Give it a shot—I’m confident you’ll notice a huge difference in how responsive your own Samsung feels.
And check out the rest of my blog for other random musings.
In 1765, James Watt produced a new type of condenser that radically improved the efficiency of the steam engine. This innovation, along with a couple of others, radically transformed the economies of Europe and triggered the Industrial Revolution. It’s important to note that this was not a radical invention. It was an improvement on an existing steam engine. But this improvement led to a whole bunch of changes that improved the economies of Europe and beyond. Large Language Model (LLM) AIs will have a similar effect.
The LLM is essentially a word-prediction algorithm that masquerades as a chatbot. We’ve had chatbots of this sort since Eliza was invented in 1966. LLMs merely allow a particular kind of Chatbot to give you more relevant and accurate (for the most part) results. However, based on my latest experience in programming with the assistance of an LLM, it will trigger substantial innovations in the economics of certain jobs going forward, especially in programming.
The Title Is Not a Typo
The title of this post is not a typo. I believe that AI will bring evolutionary change, not revolutionary change. It will allow for greater productivity and output from programmers, but no fundamental shifts in the architecture of building software.
From my experience, there is very little in the current state of AI that will improve the development of software. What it will do is to radically improve programmer productivity. There are times as a programmer when you get stuck, and you don’t know where to turn. Code-aware AIs are the perfect antidote for that. This is especially germane on Android, which is notorious for being complex.
Coding with AI: An experiment in Android Studio
Everybody has a hobby. Some people like to work with wood, some people like to build things, and some people like to collect things. My hobby is building Android software, and I have written about other programming projects. I have been doing it for almost a decade with varying degrees of success. What I wanted to do was see if I could build a simple application for my Android phone, using AI to guide me along.
Developing for Android has been a bit of a problem because there are times when you can get stuck. After all, you have multiple different kinds of frameworks that you can use, and it’s never quite clear which one you should use.
What I found was that AI is indeed helpful, but you have to double-check everything it tells you. I found that it generates code, but the code is never 100% correct. And you have to know what you’re doing to determine if the code it’s giving you is the right code.
Android Studio: Mirkwood of Dev Environments
Android development reminds me of The Hobbit, when Bilbo and the team have to go into Mirkwood forest. It’s a forest that is dark and overgrown and contains a monster or two. This is exactly what developing for Android feels like. It’s overgrown, and you have a bunch of different intertwined frameworks that you could use, but from a design perspective, it’s not clear which one you should use. It doesn’t help that developing an Android app also makes me feel small, hairy, and barefoot. (But that may be a problem for me and my therapist).
Android Studio has recently added a coding AI as a feature of the development environment. It has totally changed my coding experience.
Consider the UI frameworks that you use in Android Studio. You could use the older XML-based one, or you could use the newer one called Jetpack Compose. When you use Google to answer a question, you’ll often get an answer that says that you should use both, when in my experience, you should use one of the other.
One of the biggest problems with Google is that they often have multiple versions of their documentation available, and they say conflicting things. It’s been a never-ending source of pain. But now that I have an AI to talk to, I can ask a question about what the most recent framework is, and get an answer that can then be checked. This saves days of getting stuck.
Opinion on Coding with AI on Android Studio
I tipped my hand earlier, but my conclusion is that coding with an AI has been an almost unalloyed good. But you need to take the perspective of my favorite saying from Russian, “trust but verify”. (Sorry, Dara). Oftentimes, the answers are an amazing 98% correct, but it will take you a couple of hours to sniff out the bug.
I believe this will fundamentally change how software gets built. Not in that it will change the shape of software, but rather that it will improve the productivity of producing software, and will also allow more people to build software.
I think this will have two major effects. First of all, I think it will improve the productivity of the average programmer. When I started in the business, the metric was that a developer could produce and maintain about 25,000 lines of code a year. I’m not sure where that number is today, but I easily see this multiplying by a factor of two or three.
A Victory for Mediocrity!
Second, it is a victory for mediocrity! It will make it possible for mediocre developers (like me) to develop more on complicated platforms and build more complicated apps. This is a big deal because often platforms like Android have a huge conceptual weight that they bring with them. In other words, you have to learn a lot before you can do anything useful. This has been my main impediment to developing in Android. As I mentioned above, Android has several frameworks, and some of them overlap. For example, Jetpack Compose and the old XML-based format for display are used for the same thing. And there’s no good guidance on what to use when. Now, all you need to do is ask Google’s Gemini, and it’ll make a recommendation to you. And by and large, the recommendations are usually correct. But always verify your answers.
The direct fallout of these two items is economic. What this represents is that the supply of programmers will go up, while demand remains constant. You could argue whether or not we are at full employment capacity for programmers. I believe we are. If this is the case, then the basic laws of supply and demand apply here. If supply increases and demand remains constant, then prices go down. Which means developers will get paid less. I would argue that programming is a unique skill and brings with it a unique set of headaches and problems. When one looks at what programmers get paid relative to other technical jobs, the labor rates for programmers might have been unnecessarily high.
This will not only affect programmers, but also QA engineers. Google Gemini in Android Studio is surprisingly efficient at generating test cases. This should make for better software.
While shrinking wages are always a problem, many people aren’t programmers for the money. We do it because we love it, or we do it because frankly, we were hedgehogs and it’s the only thing we can do. (See the parable about the hedgehog and the fox.)
Everyone Becomes a Product Manager
After spending a lot of time working with code that was generated from Google Gemini, one unexpected observation was that often, the prompts I’ve had to write are in the form of the dreaded Silicon Valley PRDs, or Product Requirement Documents. The advent of AI causes everyone to be a product manager and think like a product manager. That is: What do you want the code to do? How do you want it to behave and how is it structured? How do the modules interact?. In general, I think this is good because it forces you to think of things upfront.
For example, if you forget about authentication and authorization, you may have to go and bolt it on to get it to work. You may also have to go back to your initial prompt and add in those requirements, and start over. This is especially true for Google’s byzantine IAM APIs. However, the cost of deleting your old work and starting over is much less because most of the code has been generated for you. I believe this is a good thing.
Conclusion: We’re all Product Managers Now
Just as James Watt improved on the steam engine, AI in the form of an LLM has improved on already existing “chatbots” like Eliza. Both Watt’s improvement on steam engines and AIs in the form of LLMs are important improvements on existing technology.
Coding with an LLM (Specifically the Gemini AI included in Android Studio) by my side has been an enlightening experience. It has allowed me to get further along in my programming practice than I would have otherwise, and I believe this generalizes to a much wider audience. Coding with an AI has also changed the nature of what it means to develop software, and will ensure more thoughtfulness in the design stages of any software project.
It will have a definite impact on programmer productivity and perhaps wages. But it will allow more people to build better software faster. This is a good thing.
Welcome to another edition of my “Who’s Hiring” series. I have written about this in the last in September 2023 and May.
As I have said before, looking for a job is a numbers game. It’s usually around 25 resume submissions to get 1 call back, and 3 callbacks to get a job. Your numbers may vary depending on the economic cycle, your industry and your age. (Ageism is real in Silicon Valley).1
When it comes to looking for a job, my algorithm is this:
Use your contacts for jobs they know about. This is your best source.
Look for companies who have just received funding from VCs. The first thing A and B round startups do once they have funding is hire people.
Search the Web. This is the lowest yield approach. I have been trying to get a job at Adobe for 20 years with no luck.
Follow the Money
Here’s how it works. VCs go out and solicit commitments for money for funds from their investors. The VCs then invest in companies, who then hire people. Simple right?
So, as of December 2024, here is are some additional funds that I could find who have raised money and have job sites. My full list is here.
Insight Partners
Fund Size: $20 billion (Insight Partners XII).
Focus: Growth-stage and late-stage technology companies.
I had a recruiter tell me in the last 2 weeks (of writing this) that I would have trouble getting a job at my age and that I should leave experiences off my resume, and remove years from my education. ↩︎
This quote above from Nelson Mandela seems apt lately. Our campaign did not turn out how I would have liked, but some great things happened, and I learned a lot.
Great Things Happened
One of the best (and also worst) things that happen in a campaign is you find out who your real friends and supporters are. I’m proud of the folks who have endorsed and supported me. For endorsers, I am most proud to have had the support of David Cohen, someone I greatly respect, as well as Patrick Ahrens, who I know is going to make a great Assemblyperson. I am honored beyond belief to have the support of the NorCal Carpenters Union, and the laborer’s union, LiUNA local 270. I am equally proud of my other endorsers, including Chappie Jones, Carlos Rosario, and more.
I also learned who my friends and supporters are. I will forever be comforted by this photo of my campaign kickoff, all the way back in July. When I look at this photo, I know I have won. I am so proud of these people and honored to have them at my event.
Campaign Kickoff, July 29th
Finally, I got to meet a lot of my neighbors, and it was a great experience. I come from the Catholic faith tradition, and Pope Francis talks about “encuentro”. This is encountering another person, but in a deep way. In Spanish, encuentro has a deeper meaning. Encuentro involves an openness to The Other in hopes of a true understanding of them.
I had many encuentros that I am grateful for. I am thinking of Susan in the TAPNA neighborhood, Leonard on Davis Street. Jean, who just got back from a devastated western North Carolina. John in Santa Clara who is dealing with health issues. And Katherine and Bear downtown, who had great questions about water, water policy, and politics. After talking with folks like these, I’m more hopeful about the future than have been in a long time. There are a lot of good, thoughtful people out there. We’re going to be ok.
I Learned A Lot
I did learn a lot in this process. As mentioned above, I learned who my friends and supporters are. I also learned how to crisply articulate my values, what my plans are, and how I will make my voters’ lives better.
I learned that endorsements matter. One key data point was that as we approached the election, there was a marked spike in traffic to the endorsement page. It looks like people do pay attention to this. Something to do better on next time.
I learned 1:1 in-person contact with voters is the most valuable interaction. It is the most joyous part of the job. I also learned that this is not scalable. You need people to help carry your message.
I learned that if you don’t have a database of contacts you can lean on, you are at a disadvantage. The voter file is not enough.
I learned I liked taking on problems that voters had. For instance, the folks in the TAPNA neighborhood have houses with basements that routinely flood, especially after wet years like the one we have last winter. I also enjoyed working with a voter, David, on getting a leak in an empty lot fixed. It look way to long to fix, but he got it done. I credit this approach to Forrest Williams, former city councilman, mentor, and raconteur of the highest order.
I also learned that folks have a lot of concerns about water. Mainly, they’d like lower water rates, and more efficient Water District. I hope the new board and my opponent pay attention to this.
I learned I can precinct walk in 103 degree heat. With the right clothing and enough water, you can do anything. Take that Climate Change!
I learned that digital marketing is not a panacea. I ran a multi-channel approach with search, display, video, and social ads. We focus on all kinds of segments including democrats, engineers, cybersecurity folks, and even Catholics. It was not enough.
I learned to get help from staff and volunteers early, and let go. They will do it differently than you will, but you need to let it go.
I learned that sometimes, the person who you are is not what the majority of the establishment or voters want. I learned that there were folks who would not vote for a 59-year-old, white guy, no matter how good his ideas were. And that I had to not take it personally and move on quickly to the next interaction.
Gratitude
First, I am thankful for Frances Herbert, who was my consultant during this process. I’m grateful for her steady hand, focus on data (especially from the Voter.Vote platform), and generally keeping me from doing dumb things. The fact that we did as well as we did is a testament to her work.
Second, I am grateful for the staff and volunteers, including James Deng, Joseph Fierro, Steve Samuel, Claudia Martinez, and GOAT Jenny Coupe. And to Dylan Lehmann who gave me some valuable training on how to do precinct walking in the early days. I am also grateful for Spanish translation help Monsé Rodriguez and Leslie Murillo. And also to folks like Jon Pedigo and Darren Seaton for his advice and counsel.
And a special thanks to my campaign coordinator/manager/sidekick Anthony Shing whose boundless energy challenged me and bouyed when I needed it.
Third, thank you to my family. To my passel of cousins/aunts/uncles/friends, you supported me early, and I am forever grateful. One of the best parts of running a campaign is that you see who is really “with” you. You were there for me, and I am grateful. I owe you.
To my daughters, thanks for keeping me human, and reminding me about balance. I remain so proud of you. I love you always and forever.
And finally, to Dara, who tolerated this mess, and sacrificed a lot. She raised me up during the tough times, and tried to bring me back to reality. Thank you for standing with me during this process. I could not have made it without you. Thank you for being a the supportive partner I needed.
In reality, running for office is something I always wanted to try. Thanks to all of you for helping make this happen.
For those of you who have not voted yet, here is a list of vote center locations in Santa Clara Valley Water District 2. I recommend vote centers so your ballot will likely get delivered and counted earlier. And don’t forget to sign up for BallotTrax! If you have any questions, Contact Us!
4-DAY VOTE CENTER LOCATIONS (Full List) OPEN NOVEMBER 2 – NOVEMBER 4, 2024 – FROM 9:00 AM TO 5:00 PM ELECTION DAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2024 – FROM 7:00 AM TO 8:00 PM
LOCATION
ADDRESS
CITY
LANGUAGE TARGETED*
Campbell Community Center – Room Q80
1 W Campbell Ave
Campbell, CA 95008
C/S/T/V/H/K/P/R/U
Center for Employment Training – Banquet Room
701 Vine St
San Jose, CA 95110
C/S/T/V/H
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds – Heritage Hall
344 Tully Rd
San Jose, CA 95111
C/S/T/V/J/I
African American Community Service Agency – Multipurpose Room
304 N 6th St
San Jose, CA 95112
C/S/T/V/H/O/L/U
Franklin-McKinley School District – Boardroom
645 Wool Creek Dr
San Jose, CA 95112
C/S/T/V/J/I
Italian American Heritage Foundation Cultural Center – IAHF Hall
425 N 4th St
San Jose, CA 95112
C/S/T/V/H
Joyce Ellington Branch Library – Community Room
491 E Empire St
San Jose, CA 95112
C/S/T/V/G/H/K/O/B/L/U
SJSU Provident Credit Union Event Center
290 S 7th St
San Jose, CA 95112
C/S/T/V/H/O/L/U
Capitol Park
800 Peter Pan Ave
San Jose, CA 95116
C/S/T/V/K
Mexican Heritage Plaza – Classrooms 4 & 5
1700 Alum Rock Ave
San Jose, CA 95116
C/S/T/V/G/H/M/K/O/B/L/U
Olinder Community Center – Community Room
848 E William St
San Jose, CA 95116
C/S/T/V/G/H/O/B/L/U
Roosevelt Community Center – Dance Room
901 E Santa Clara St
San Jose, CA 95116
C/S/T/V/G/H/K/O/B/L/U
San Jose High School – Auxiliary Gym
275 N 24th St
San Jose, CA 95116
C/S/T/V/G/H/M/K/O/B/L/U
Taiwanese American Presbyterian Church – Gym Room
3675 Payne Ave
San Jose, CA 95117
C/S/T/V/H/J/K/P/R/U
Italian Gardens Apartments – Community Room
1524 Almaden Rd
San Jose, CA 95125
C/S/T/V
San Jose Scottish Rite Center – Library
2455 Masonic Dr
San Jose, CA 95125
C/S/T/V/H/O/L
Willow Glen Community Center – Rooms 3 & 5
2175 Lincoln Ave
San Jose, CA 95125
C/S/T/V/H
San Jose Odd Fellows Community Center Hall – Fellowship Hall
1035 Emory St
San Jose, CA 95126
C/S/T/V/H/K/U
Alum Rock Youth Center – Community Room
137 N White Rd
San Jose, CA 95127
C/S/T/V/H/K/O/B
Roberto Cruz Leadership Academy – Jaguar Den
14281 Story Rd
San Jose, CA 95127
C/S/T/V/H/O/B
San Jose City College-Student Center – Community Room
2100 Moorpark Ave
San Jose, CA 95128
C/S/T/V/H/K/P/R
Vista Center for the Blind & Visually Impaired – Auditorium
101 N Bascom Ave
San Jose, CA 95128
C/S/T/V/H/K/P/R/U
Santa Clara University – Parlors B&C Room
820 Alviso St
Santa Clara, CA 95050
C/S/T/V/H/K/U
Triton Museum of Art – Collection Hall
1505 Warburton Ave
Santa Clara, CA 95050
C/S/T/V/H/K/O/B/R/L/U
Valley Village Retirement Community – Building 18, Social Center
It has happened again. Another water utility has been hacked. A number of sources (CNBC, CBS, CNN) have reported that the nation’s largest water utility, American Water has been hacked. American Water manages more than 500 water and wastewater systems in about 1,700 communities across at least 14 states, including California.
American Water has announced it is back online. Further, American Water says it has no indication that its water and wastewater facilities were impacted by this incident. It also says that water quality was not affected.
The attack was first reported in an 8K filing with the SEC on October 3rd. American Water appeared to recover by October 10th, according to a statement released by the company.
The attack appeared to cause network outages, rendering both American Water’s billing portal, MyWater, and its internal phone network inoperative, according to cyberSecurity publication Dark Reading.
This is by no means the first attack on a water system this year. As has been written about on this site, there have been attacks in Texas, Hawaii, Kansas, and Pennsylvania. Moreover, there have been new cybersecurity guidelines issued for water systems by DHS, and more security called for by the EPA.
Valley Water needs a Director who understands the nature of the cybersecurity threat. Bill Roth is that candidate who brings years of experience in both technology and cybersecurity, and can ask the right questions to ensure our water systems remain safe.
For more information, check out Fast Facts about Bill Roth.
PC Magazine is reporting that a Kansas City Water utility has been the victim of a ransomware attack. The water treatment facility in Arkansas City, Kansas, came under attack and had to resort to “manual operations.”
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that encrypts a victim’s data, rendering it inaccessible. Cyber-criminals, often from Russia and North Korea, then demand a ransom, typically in cryptocurrency, to restore access. These attacks target individuals, businesses, and government agencies, often crippling operations. Victims face tough decisions: pay the ransom with no guarantee of data recovery or risk permanent data loss. Ransomware has become an increasingly common.
Why is this serious? Consider what would happen during a storm where Lexington Dam could not open its floodgates in time, causing the dam to be over-topped. This would cause serious damage to the dam and to the towns in the path of the flood, like Los Gatos, Campbell, and San José.
Topics related to cyber-security have only shown up in the agenda and minutes of Santa Clara Valley Water Board of Directors twice in the last 5 years. More needs to be done. The water agency for Silicon Valley needs a board member who understands the threat, and can advocate for the resources to deal with it.
Bill Roth is that candidate. For more information check out more articles on cybersecurity.
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One of the questions we receive frequently in this campaign is “What is Valley Water?”. Simply put, Valley Water is Santa Clara County’s local integrated water services agency. This means that it has several specific roles involving water in our county as part of its core missions. For the most part, Valley Water is the “water wholesaler” in the county. This means that it manages the county’s water resources, and then sells that water to entities that sell that water to you, like San Jose Water and the City of Santa Clara.
Valley Water is unique among water agencies in that it has three principal goals: First, to supply water to the people of Santa Clara County; Second, to provide flood control for the county; Third, to protect and preserve the environment on land it owns. We’ll cover these in order.
Valley Water supplies water to over 2 million residents and 15 cities in Santa Clara County, managing a vast network of infrastructure including 10 dams, reservoirs, 3 treatment plants, and over 150 miles of pipelines. They have a stated commitment to sustainability which extends to diverse water sources, including recycled water, surface water, and groundwater extraction from local aquifers. For more information on where Valley Water gets its water, check out Where Does My Water Come From?.
Flood Protection
The Water District takes a proactive approach to flood prevention. They operate flood detention basins and maintain over 800 miles of waterways to protect communities from natural disasters. Their projects, like the Upper Guadalupe River Flood Protection project, aim to restore habitats while ensuring safety and flood resilience for businesses, homes, and schools. You can read more about the Stream Maintenance Program here.
Through watershed management and habitat restoration initiatives, Valley Water safeguards five major watersheds in Santa Clara County, preserving habitats for endangered species like the Red-legged Frog and Steelhead Trout. Its dedication to environmental protection ensures the longevity of our region’s ecosystems.
Addressing Challenges
There are a number of challenges facing water resource agencies in the western United States. These include avoiding over-extraction, adapting to climate change, and educating the community about its work and also about the incentives it can offer to improve conservation and water usage.
Over-Extraction Mitigation
Recognizing the challenges of over-extraction, we’re committed to managing groundwater sustainably to prevent land subsidence and ensure a reliable water supply for future generations. Our efforts include monitoring water levels, implementing conservation measures, and promoting responsible water use.
Climate Change Adaptation
In response to climate change impacts such as droughts and severe weather events, Valley Water has developed the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). This comprehensive strategy focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding renewable energy, and enhancing water supply and flood protection measures to build resilience in our community.
Community Engagement and Education
One major challenge is teaching residents of the county what the Valley Water does. Valley Water with the community through educational programs, virtual events, and school initiatives to promote water conservation, environmental stewardship, and public health. In addition, there are marketing programs to let residents know about the various rebates that exist for things like landscape conversion, conservation, and rainwater capture.
In summary, Valley Water is Santa Clara County’s $900 Million/year1 integrated water service agency. As a public agency seprate from the County of Santa Clara, it has a three-part mandate of ensuring water supply, flood protection, and environmental stewardship of creeks and watersheds. It is the “water wholesaler” for the county, which means it manages the counties public water related resources, and sells water to retailers, like San Jose Water, who in turn, sell it to you, the consumer.
I am running for a seat on the Board of Directors for Valley Water to make sure we keep water rates as low as possible, and to deliver safe and clean water to Santa Clara County for generations to come. For more information about my campaign, sign up for our newsletter below.
The Department of Homeland Security released a tool for Cyber Vulnerability Scanning for Water Utilities. It is this type of information that Valley Water needs to be aware of. Moreover, the board needs to make sure that staff is protecting our critical infrastructure from any type of malicious attack.
It is essential that Valley Water takes cybersecurity seriously because their systems are responsible for managing the supply and treatment of all water in and out of Santa Clara Valley, including but not limited to: drinking, sanitation, agriculture, and industrial processes. A cyberattack on these systems could lead to contamination, disruption of service, or manipulation of data, potentially causing widespread harm to communities and the environment.
Ensuring robust cybersecurity measures protects against threats that could compromise water quality, availability, and the infrastructure’s integrity, thereby safeguarding public health and maintaining trust in these critical services.
An often overlooked aspect of water supply is the role it plays in our economy. Did you know that the average semiconductor uses over 2200 gallons of water per chip during manufacturing? If water rates go up, so does the price of technology of all kinds. The cost of water affects all aspects of our lives. It affects not only the food we eat but all the technology we use in our daily lives.
Valley Water needs a board member who not only fights to keep rates as low as possible but someone like Bill Roth who can bring critical new skills to a board of directors that is badly in need of rejuvenation.
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There are several ways to lower your water bill. One is conservation, or simply using less water. Another way to lower your water bill is to make sure the cost of the water is low, so the user’s bill remains low. (More on that in a future post). But one topic almost rarely gets covered. Leaks.
Most of the meters in Santa Clara County are old-school mechanical meters. However, it seems San Jose Water has approval to update our meters to newer, digital ones. I can find no information on the wider rollout of newer meters. If you know anything about this, please comment below.
A couple of years back, my water bill was kept going up, and I could not figure out why. At the time I was mostly living alone, as this was during the pandemic. My daughters were in college or away working. I could not find any obvious leaks. Like the good nerd that I am, I looked to technology for answers. I found Flume.
For the record: this is not a product review. I’m merely relaying my experience with one of the commercial products. It worked for me, but your mileage may vary.
About Flume
Flume is a box you attach to your water meter, a wireless bridge, and an app on your phone. I have had mine for about 2 years. The installation is very simple. You strap the box to your water meter at the street level, and connect it to the gateway. The gateway is a box I have sitting on my window sill, and it bridges between the device and my wifi network. Finally, You use the app to connect your gateway to your home’s Wi-Fi.
Science Fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Flume is like this. When you install the box, you strap it to your mechanical water meter. Somehow it figures out how your water is flowing through a meter just by being strapped to it. It’s magic. It seems to accurate +/- 5%. However, the measurement of water used indoor vs. outdoor is not accurate, since I don’t use water outdoors generally.
My Experience with Flume
I let it run for a day, and it told me it was likely a leak from a toilet. And it was correct. I isolated the toilet that was leaking and called my friend Mike The Plumber. Mike fixed it quickly. My water usage dropped by half the next month.
Flume also has decent analytics. It will allow you to graph water use by the minute(!), hour, day, week and month. If you like line and bar graphs, you’ll love this app. The notifications are great too. The flume app will tell you on days when you are using more than the normal amount of water. It will also email you as well. You get to choose. I find this super helpful.
In summary, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. This is something I live by in my personal and professional life. Flume helps me with managing my water usage. It also helps me lower my water bills as well. In my view, this only strengthens the need for smart water meters. It is also a great conservation tool. If you have questions, contact me here.
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Friends: Here’s an update on the water lab, which I have written about here, and here. As you know, I have been working on raising money for clean water in Nicaragua for a while. I got an email from Brian, down in Nicaragua, that the water lab is 99% done! See the photos below. This is all part of the Water for Chinandega project, which aims to deliver clean water to an entire region in Nicaragua. This is great news for a great project. As always, if you have questions, please contact me.
I have written about it here, and here. I just heard from Brian in Chinandega that the lab is almost 99% done! I have attached some pictures that he took TODAY! One more step to being able to scale our efforts to provide Water for Chinandega!
One of the questions we receive frequently in this campaign is “What is the Santa Clara Valley Water District?”. Simply put, Santa Clara Valley Water District is Santa Clara County’s local integrated water services agency. This means that it has several specific roles involving water in our county as part of its core missions. For the most part, Santa Clara Valley Water District is the “water wholesaler” in the county. This means that it manages the county’s water resources, and then sells that water to entities that sell that water to you, like San Jose Water and the City of Santa Clara.
The Water District is unique among water agencies in that it has three principal goals: First, to supply water to the people of Santa Clara County; Second, to provide flood control for the county; Third, to protect and preserve the environment on land it owns. We’ll cover these in order.
Santa Clara Valley Water District supplies water to over 2 million residents and 15 cities in Santa Clara County, managing a vast network of infrastructure including 10 dams, reservoirs, 3 treatment plants, and over 150 miles of pipelines. They have a stated commitment to sustainability which extends to diverse water sources, including recycled water, surface water, and groundwater extraction from local aquifers. For more information on where Santa Clara Valley Water District gets its water, check out Where Does My Water Come From?.
Flood Protection
The Water District takes a proactive approach to flood prevention. They operate flood detention basins and maintain over 800 miles of waterways to protect communities from natural disasters. Their projects, like the Upper Guadalupe River Flood Protection project, aim to restore habitats while ensuring safety and flood resilience for businesses, homes, and schools. You can read more about the Stream Maintenance Program here.
Through watershed management and habitat restoration initiatives, Valley Water safeguards five major watersheds in Santa Clara County, preserving habitats for endangered species like the Red-legged Frog and Steelhead Trout. Its dedication to environmental protection ensures the longevity of our region’s ecosystems.
Addressing Challenges
There are a number of challenges facing water resource agencies in the western United States. These include avoiding over-extraction, adapting to climate change, and educating the community about its work and also about the incentives it can offer to improve conservation and water usage.
Over-Extraction Mitigation
Recognizing the challenges of over-extraction, we’re committed to managing groundwater sustainably to prevent land subsidence and ensure a reliable water supply for future generations. Our efforts include monitoring water levels, implementing conservation measures, and promoting responsible water use.
Climate Change Adaptation
In response to climate change impacts such as droughts and severe weather events, the District has developed the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). This comprehensive strategy focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding renewable energy, and enhancing water supply and flood protection measures to build resilience in our community.
Community Engagement and Education
One major challenge is teaching residents of the county what the Water District does. The District engages with the community through educational programs, virtual events, and school initiatives to promote water conservation, environmental stewardship, and public health. In addition, there are marketing programs to let residents know about the various rebates that exist for things like landscape conversion, conservation, and rainwater capture.
In summary, the Santa Clara Valley Water District is Santa Clara County’s $1.4 Billion/year1 integrated water service agency. As a public agency seprate from the County of Santa Clara, it has a three-part mandate of ensuring water supply, flood protection, and environmental stewardship of creeks and watersheds. It is the “water wholesaler” for the county, which means it manages the counties public water related resources, and sells water to retailers, like San Jose Water, who in turn, sell it to you, the consumer.
I am running for a seat on the Board of Directors for the Santa Clara Valley Water District to make sure we keep water rates as low as possible, and to deliver safe and clean water to Santa Clara County for generations to come. For more information about my campaign, sign up for our newsletter below.
in revenue terms, based on the proposed budget for 2025. ↩︎
The threat is real. Small Texas towns have had their water system hacked by a Russian Hacking group. You can find a cluster of news stories here.
In short, a series of cyberattacks targeted small towns in rural Texas, with one incident causing the water system to overflow. The attacks, attributed to a Russian hacktivist group called CyberArmyofRussia_Reborn, aimed at public utilities, raising concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. water systems. I have written about this previously related to hacks in Pennsylvania, and Hawaii.
In Hale Center and Muleshoe, attempts to breach the water systems were thwarted by manual intervention after the cities detected suspicious activity. Similar attacks in Lockney were also prevented. While the incidents didn’t pose immediate dangers, they underscored the need for improved cybersecurity measures in critical infrastructure. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security were notified but declined to comment on ongoing investigations. Both the FBI and DHS issued a warning about potential attacks in March.
Previous attacks on U.S. water facilities, including those attributed to Iranian state groups, prompted calls for stronger cybersecurity measures from government officials. The Environmental Protection Agency urged governors to assess cybersecurity risks and plan for potential cyberattacks on water supplies.
Valley Water needs to have a comprehensive cybersecurity policy. Moreover, it needs someone on the board of directors who understands the issues and the seriousness of the threat. Bill Roth is the candidate the board needs.
