Where Technology and Water Come Alive.

At the heart of Hilliard’s Station Park sits a community favorite: the interactive splash pad and fountains. On summer days, families gather, children play, and the space comes alive with energy. But behind the joyful bursts of water was a system that had grown unreliable and cumbersome.

The existing control software was outdated, poorly documented, and fragile. Frequent downtime meant staff had to step in manually—interrupting the seamless experience the city wanted to provide. Hilliard needed a solution that wasn’t just a repair, but a transformation.

augustwenty was brought in to deliver exactly that: a modern, autonomous control system that would keep the fountains running reliably, reduce maintenance headaches, and set the stage for future enhancements.

The Challenge: Outdated Infrastructure, High Expectations

The city’s leadership knew the fountain was more than plumbing and pipes—it was a community centerpiece. Expectations were high:

• Reliability. The fountain should run without constant human intervention.
• Transparency. Operations staff needed visibility into system health and behavior.
• Longevity. The solution had to be forward-thinking, not just a patch on old code.
• Unknowns. Documentation of the prior system was thin, meaning much had to be discovered and rebuilt from scratch.

The risk was clear: if the city settled for another stopgap, they’d be right back at square one in a few years. They needed a foundation that could endure.

Our Approach: Discovery and Design

We approached Splashlight with the same care the City of Hilliard brings to its residents: precision, intentionality, and respect for the end user.

1. Discovery and Reverse Engineering

The first step was understanding what we were inheriting. With sparse documentation, we pieced together the system by:

• Examining the legacy hardware and wiring.
• Interviewing operators to learn what worked and what failed.
• Reverse engineering critical features to preserve valuable behaviors.

2. Collaborative Design

We worked closely with city staff to prioritize outcomes: stability, ease of use, and scalability. Feedback loops were built in from the start, ensuring that the solution addressed real operational needs, not just technical assumptions.

3. Choosing the Right Technology

We selected Elixir + Phoenix for the backend, running on a Raspberry Pi device. This stack provided:

• Concurrency & fault tolerance to handle real-time operations.
• Low footprint deployment with reliable hardware.
• Future scalability for integrating new features and interactive elements.

Implementation: From Fragile to Future-Ready

With architecture in place, we built the new Splashlight system from the ground up:

• Core control logic in Elixir, designed to be reliable and fault-tolerant.
• Responsive UI built in Phoenix, giving operators visibility into system status and easy controls.
• Hardware integration modularized, so sensors and modules could be swapped or upgraded in the future without reworking the system.
• Automated scheduling so the fountains could run reliably with minimal staff intervention.

Every iteration was tested in collaboration with Hilliard’s staff. By launch, we had not only replaced the old, brittle system but elevated it into something the city could depend on year after year.

Results: Reliable, Maintainable, Scalable

The transformation produced immediate impact:

• Zero unplanned downtime since launch—the fountains run autonomously.
• Reduced maintenance burden, freeing staff from constant oversight.
• Significant cost savings from eliminating repeated repairs and patchwork fixes.
• Confidence in the future with a platform designed for growth and community engagement.

The system has become invisible in the best way possible: residents simply enjoy the fountains, while operators trust the technology running behind the scenes.

Technology Stack

• Backend: Elixir + Phoenix
• Hardware Deployment: Raspberry Pi
• Frontend/UI: Responsive web application
• Integration: Modular sensor & control interfaces

Conclusion

The Splashlight project demonstrates how thoughtful engineering can transform aging infrastructure into a modern, resilient, and delightful experience.

By combining reverse engineering with careful design and modern technology, we delivered more than a system fix—we delivered peace of mind for operators and uninterrupted joy for the community.

At augustwenty, we don’t just write code—we create solutions that resonate. With Splashlight, we helped Hilliard reimagine a community centerpiece, turning fragile legacy systems into a foundation for the future.

This is what happens when craftsmanship meets code.