AGGREGATED DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

1 . A system for determining operational states of specific categories of water appliances using a plurality of geographically distributed water sensors, the system comprising:

at least one central processor configured to:

receive water appliance usage data from the plurality of geographically distributed water sensors, wherein each water sensor is located upstream of a plurality of water appliances in an associated distributed water infrastructure, and wherein each water sensor is configured to collect data from an infrastructure inlet flow reflective of operation of at least one specific category of water appliance downstream of the water sensor;

compare the water appliance usage data from the plurality of geographically distributed water sensors to determine trends in operation of the at least one specific category of water appliance across a population; and

output information about the trends in operation.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the geographically distributed water sensors are each associated with a differing household and each include a transmitter for sending water appliance usage information for processing by the at least one central processor.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the specific category of water appliance includes at least one category chosen from the group consisting of washing machines, dishwashers, toilets, specific models of washing machines, specific models of dishwashers, and specific models of toilets, and the information about trends in usage include at least one of malfunctions, efficiency, volume of water used, water flow rate, time of day of usage, location of usage, and cycles run in a specific time period,

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one central processor is configured to alert an administrator of a particular distributed water infrastructure if water usage for a category of appliance deviates substantially from a threshold.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one central processor is configured to alert a water appliance manufacturer when a trend relating to malfunctions is detected.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the geographically dispersed water sensors are each associated with at least one local processor that is configured to determine from collected data water usage, patterns sufficient to identify operation of specific appliances within an associated distributed water infrastructure, and to transmit, for processing by the at least one central processor, information about operation of the identified specific appliances.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the collected data from the infrastructure inlet flow includes substantially all water flow through the infrastructure inlet, and the at least one central processor is configured to determine geographical trends in home and away time periods based on the collected data.

8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the specific appliances include water faucets, shower heads, and toilets, and wherein at least one of the at least one local processor and the at least one central processor is configured to determine home and away time from data reflective of at least one of water faucet usage, shower head usage, and toilet usage.

9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one local processor is configured to:

receive from at least one sensor associated with the distributed water infrastructure signals indicative of water usage in the distributed water infrastructure;

generate from the signals indicative of water usage, at least one water usage signature;

compare the at least one water usage signature with at least one of the unique water usage signatures stored in memory to determine a match;

based on the signature match, ascertain an identifier of a specific water appliance corresponding to the water usage signature; and

transmit for processing by the at least one central processor, operational information of about the specific water appliance.

10 . A method for determining operational states of specific categories of water appliances using a plurality of geographically distributed water sensors, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving water appliance usage data from the plurality of geographically distributed water sensors, wherein each water sensor is located upstream of a plurality of water appliances in an associated distributed water infrastructure, and wherein each water sensor is configured to collect, via at least one local processor, data associated with an infrastructure inlet flow reflective of operation of at least one specific category of water appliance downstream of the water sensor;

comparing, via at least one central processor remote form the local processors, the water appliance usage data to determine trends in operation of the at least one specific category of water appliance across a population; and

outputting information about the trends in usage data.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the geographically distributed water sensors are each associated with a differing household, and each geographically distributed water sensors includes a transmitter, and wherein the method further comprises receiving water appliance usage information at the at least one central processor.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the specific category of water appliance includes at least one category chosen from a group consisting of washing machines, dishwashers, toilets, specific models of washing machines, specific models of dishwashers, and specific models of toilets, and the information about trends in usage include at least one of malfunctions, efficiency, volume of water used, water flow rate, time of day of usage, location of usage, and cycles run in a specific time period.

13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising alerting an administrator of a particular distributed water infrastructure if water usage for a category of appliance deviates substantially from a threshold.

14 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising alerting a water appliance manufacturer when a trend relating to malfunctions is detected.

15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining, via the at least one central processor, from collected data water usage, patterns sufficient to identify operation of specific appliances within an associated distributed water infrastructure, and transmitting information about operation of the identified specific appliances.

16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining, via the at least one central processor, geographical trends in home and away time periods based on the collected data, wherein the collected data from the infrastructure inlet flow includes substantially all water flow through the infrastructure inlet.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising determining, via at least one of the at least one local processor and the at least one central processor, home and away time from data reflective of at least one of water faucet usage, shower head usage, and toilet usage

18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

receiving, via at least one local processor, from at least one sensor associated with the distributed water infrastructure, signals indicative of water usage in the distributed water infrastructure;

generating, via at least one local processor, from the signals indicative of water usage, at least one water usage signature;

comparing, via at least one local processor, the at least one water usage signature with at least one unique water usage signatures stored in memory to determine a signature match;

based on the signature match, ascertaining, via at least one local processor, an identifier of a specific water appliance corresponding to the water usage signature; and

transmitting, via the at least one local processor, for processing by the at least one central processor, operational information of about the specific water appliance.