This 'Nest for water' startup wants you to pay $799 now to help cut down on future water bills

• Buoy bills itself as the "Nest for water:" a $799 smart home device that hooks up to your plumbing and sends data to your smartphone.
• From the app, you can check out exactly how much water each of your home appliances uses, be alerted to leaks, and remotely shut off your home's emergency valve.
• Buoy is hoping to provide a solution to the rising water costs in the US.

If you've ever been curious about your home's water usage or attempted to find practical ways to curb water costs, then you're in luck: a new smart home device is here to help if you're willing to pay, and it's hitting the market today.

Buoy is a $799 app-supported device that connects to your home's plumbing and sends information about each appliance's water use to your smartphone. From the app you can review detailed feedback about water usage, stay up-to-date on any leaks, make an emergency call to a plumber, and, in the event of an especially bad leak, shut off your home's emergency valve remotely.

Buoy's team is billing the device as the "Nest for water." It's a clever comparison - after all, it was only three years ago that the creators of the smart home learning thermostat, Nest Labs, was acquired by Google for $3.2 billion.

The device was dreamed up by MIT engineer Keri Waters, who started thinking about practical ways to conserve water in 2014 during the devastating drought in Santa Cruz, California. When the state of California issued an emergency order to conserve water, Waters realized she didn't know which appliances in her home used the most water and didn't have a practical method for conserving her water use.

While California is still recovering from the drought, the US continues to grapple with water problems; a 2017 study by Michigan State University suggests that water costs for homeowners will only continue to rise, and estimates that within the next five years, as many as one in three homes will be unable to afford their monthly water bill.

Waters is betting that homeowners will look to tackle their water conservation problems with a new device, and the company is teaming up with a major insurance provider in an effort to help homeowners save on water costs.

But at $799 out of the box, Buoy is a pricey appliance. Waters estimates that the device will pay for itself in as little as a year by providing homeowners insight into the way they use water and pinpointing costly leaks - but we'll have to wait a bit until there's some cost-savings analysis from consumers to dig into the real-world savings. In the meantime, budget-conscious consumers or those looking to save on their water bill will have to weigh buying a $799 device with the promise of more data on how their home works and Buoy's estimates on what the device will save them in the long run.

Check out how Buoy works below: