A fantastic concept Keira. Would be fascinating to see it tested on a small scale? How can we help? What are three things industry /  business or community can do to assist you with developing your project?

Looking forward to seeing your concept develop.

This is a really strong and thoughtful design idea focused on a serious Australian challenge. Using water as an active protection system shows clear systems thinking and a genuine concern for safety and resilience.

As you move forward, it will really help to keep power supply, cost, and installation in mind, as these will influence many of the design decisions you make along the way. If the grid is unavailable during a bushfire, exploring batteries, off-grid charging, or pre-charged systems could be important. It is also worth thinking about how the system would be installed, whether it is built into a home or designed to be deployed when needed.

Treating these constraints as part of the design challenge will strengthen the project. Exploring shared or council-owned systems could also open up interesting and realistic directions.

This is a meaningful and promising concept. Keep building on it and let real-world conditions shape a practical and impactful design.

Peter Murphy RMIT University

Love this idea - much safer than standing there holding a hose! Urgent for our current predicament.

What are the local government (and state/federal government) laws to be optimised, when this system is feasible and proven, to enable rapid scaling nationally (without administrative barriers) in bushfire prone regions.

I think this is a really interesting idea and it’s great to see a design tackling something as serious as bushfires, especially in Australia. Using water as a protective barrier is a clever approach and it definitely shows some strong innovative thinking.

That said, I do have a few concerns around how practical it would be in real situations.

The first thing that comes to mind is cost. Systems like this could end up being quite expensive to install and maintain, which might limit who can actually use it. A lot of people living in bushfire-prone areas, especially in rural settings, may not have the budget for something like this.

Another big concern is the reliance on power. In bushfires, power outages are pretty common, so unless there’s a backup generator, the system might not work when it’s actually needed most. That kind of dependency could be a major weakness.

There’s also the issue of water availability. Bushfires often happen during drought conditions, so relying on large amounts of water could be risky (Abram et al., 2021). In rural areas especially, water supply isn’t always guaranteed, and even if people have tanks or dams, it might not be enough to sustain the system for long periods.

I also wonder how well this would scale. A lot of properties in bushfire areas aren’t just single houses, they’ve got sheds, equipment, and other structures. Protecting everything with a system like this could become complicated and expensive pretty quickly.

When you compare it to more traditional approaches, like clearing vegetation, using fire-resistant materials, or installing ember-proof screens, those options seem a lot simpler, cheaper, and more reliable because they don’t rely on power or water (Douglas, 2020).

Overall, I think the idea has potential, but it seems like it might only be practical for people who have access to things like backup power and a large, reliable water supply. That could limit its usefulness for a lot of the people who are actually most at risk.

References: 
Abram, N.J., Henley, B.J., Sen Gupta, A., Lippmann, T.J.R., Clarke, H., Dowdy, A.J., Sharples, J.J., Nolan, R.H., Zhang, T., Wooster, M.J., Wurtzel, J.B., Meissner, K.J., Pitman, A.J., Ukkola, A.M., Murphy, B.P., Tapper, N.J. and Boer, M.M. (2021). Connections of climate change and variability to large and extreme forest fires in southeast Australia. Communications Earth & Environment, [online] 2(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-00065-8.

Douglas, G. (2020). Bushfire protection | YourHome. [online] www.yourhome.gov.au. Available at: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/live-adapt/bushfire-protection.

Hi Keira,

This is a high value, high impact design that has the potential to save lives and built infrastructure across the world. Using water spray or misting as a protection device as noted by Costin (2021) as a highly effective measure for building protection and preservation in bushfire prone areas, specifically against ember attack.

Some considerations around implementation would be ensuring that the materials used can withstand the intense heat such as the piping used to convey the water and the misting heads used to protect the building as well as shielding pumps and energy sources.

It is noted that the majority of built infrastructure in bushfire prone areas are not typically reliant on a town water supply and often use on site water tanks (some have dams which could be used - even gravity fed in some cases depending on topography). Noting the limited supply, this could lead to a lack of water supply to sustain an effective defense for the required duration, you could consider the use of heat sensors to control solenoids releasing water when it is most effective as well as water wise misting or sprinkler heads which could also be refined with some testing for efficient use of available water vs level of bushfire attack.

The use of solar energy could be used to power these systems, remembering when these types of events occur the electricity grid often goes down (in major fires) and depending on the set up (non-passive powered systems) may become an issue. 

Considering the above could also assist in sustainable management of water in bushfire events, as Costin (2021) discusses the use of water in these type of defense systems without any controls on usage can lead to fire fighters attending sites that have no water due to uncontrolled releases in these type of systems, where someone turns it on when they leave and exhausts the water source before the fire has approached or similar. 

I look forward to seeing how you go with this one, I think a small prototype could be easily built to prove concept and would demonstrate to investors that its feasible and scalable. Amazing work and good luck with your project.

Greg Hughes.

ENEG12007 Creative Engineering - CQU

References: Costin, GP 2021, ‘Bushfire: Retrofitting Rural and Urban Fringe Structures—Implications of Current Engineering Data’, Energies (19961073), vol. 14, no. 12, p. 3526, viewed 7 April 2026, <https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=8d1f5c0b-dd71-305c-b9e1-1e04ee3d3543>.

Hi Keira,

Your idea of using a water-based protection system to defend homes from bushfires is very innovative and extremely relevant, especially in Australia, where the risk of bushfires is tremendous. The use of water as a protective barrier is very clever, as moisture reduces ignition risk and protects surfaces from any radiant heat or ember attacks (Williams, 2025).

One of the main challenges I noticed with this design is definitely its feasibility regarding the water supply and the reliability of the system during said conditions. In rural areas, water pressure and its availability can be limited during a major fire (GVW, n.d.). Additionally, the process of installing this system on existing homes will potentially reduce accessibility to many users due to its overall cost.

I think this design could be improved by incorporating other water sources, such as rainwater tanks or maybe even backup systems, that way it will improve the reliability. It might also be useful to explore cost-effective variations of this design, so that more users can access the system. Overall, your idea addresses a very common issue, and with further development, it could definitely become a highly valuable bushfire protection solution.

-            Xavier Elgowhary

ENEG12007: Creative Engineering - CQU

References:

Goulburn Valley Water (GVW) n.d., Your water supply in a fire, viewed 10 April 2026, Your" target="_blank" title="https://www.gvwater.vic.gov.au/service-interruptions/emergencies-and-natural-disasters/your-water-supply-in-a-fire">Your">https://www.gvwater.vic.gov.au/service-interruptions/emergencies-and-natural-disasters/your-water-supply-in-a-fire">Your water supply in a fire | Goulburn Valley Water

Williams, JL 2025, Ember-resistant zones in firescaping: Design principles, material choices, and plant strategies, Gardenot, viewed 10 April 2026, Ember-Resistant" target="_blank" title="https://gardenot.com/firescaping/ember-resistant-zone">Ember-Resistant">https://gardenot.com/firescaping/ember-resistant-zone">Ember-Resistant Zones in Firescaping: Design Principles, Material Choices, and Plant Strategies / gardenot.com