HydroSpin

The smart pipes of the future will have all sorts of sensors and data collection devices.  Most will be low-energy, but energy none the less.  What will supply the power?

HydroSpin could be the answer.  From their website:

"Water supply and utilities networks world over are spending today increasingly large amounts of money, in supplying energy for uses such as monitoring the movement and quality of water through the network of pipes. “Smart Water” technologies of today need to retrieve large amounts of data in frequent intervals. As the Smart Water market is expected to quadruple by 2020, so are its energy needs. Existing energy solutions are limited and will not be able to support this growth sufficiently.

HydroSpin has developed a unique generator that produces micro-energy from the flow of water inside distribution pipes. The HydroSpin generator creates enough power to support low-energy devices throughout the water network; such as sensors, probes and transmission devices (GPRS). It costs significantly less than existing solutions and lasts for a much longer time with minimal maintenance required."