Water Heaters: Can we make them better?

The prompt for this grad project was to take an object that is part of daily life and improve upon it. I chose the ordinary water heater which has not changed in decades.

Water heaters are notorious for bursting without notice. Connecting your water heater to your smartphone could alert you to its health and provide solutions for cost savings. This could be part of an app that would monitor all appliances in your home with wifi capability.