AquaRealTime

AquaRealTime, Inc. is a Boulder, Colorado company that develops AlgaeTracker, an IoT-based early detection and monitoring system for water contamination, including harmful algal blooms (HABs). The core product is a low-profile floating buoy (8 lbs, 14 inches in diameter, 7 inches tall) that uses optical fluorescence sensing to measure chlorophyll-a (0-200 ug/L or 0-2,000 RFU, 420 nm excitation / 670 nm emission) and phycocyanin (0-1,500 ug/L or 0-750 RFU, 575 nm excitation / 642 nm emission), alongside parameters including water and air temperature (0-50 C), turbidity (0-200 NTU), and photosynthetically active radiation (0-2,000 PAR). Company marketing material also lists pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, ORP, UV254 and dissolved organic matter among available sensors. Data is transmitted every 30 minutes over 4G LTE with automatic switching across three carriers; satellite communication is listed as available in Q4 2025.

The buoy is solar powered with battery storage rated for about three weeks of reserve operation without sunlight and 3-5 year battery life, uses self-cleaning wipers on the optical sensors, and is designed for deployment in 30-60 minutes by non-specialist maintenance staff without boats or cranes. Customers access measurements through a web dashboard at aquarealtime.io that offers trend analysis, customizable reports, configurable thresholds with automatic email alerts, a generic RFU-to-ug/L conversion, a one-point field calibration tool for site-specific accuracy, and a chlorophyll-a to phycocyanin ratio indicator used to distinguish green-algae/diatom-dominated conditions from cyanobacteria dominance. An API supports integration with existing SCADA and water management platforms. The company states its technology is patent pending and that third-party testing showed accuracy of R2 = 0.999.

Founding story

Christopher Lee, who holds a PhD in electrical engineering from CU Boulder, previously designed robotic medical simulators at Medical Simulation Corporation and then founded and bootstrapped Algae Lab Systems, which supplied automation and monitoring systems to commercial algae growers. That experience exposed the limits of manual sampling, legacy sensors and satellite data for monitoring large water bodies. In 2019 Lee's team developed a solution based on core optical fluorescence sensor technology, assembled from opto-electronics, mechanical and electrical engineering staff, and began manufacturing the product the following year despite pandemic conditions.

Business model

AquaRealTime sells a turnkey hardware system (sensor buoy, rigging package and included cellular connectivity, described as "everything except the anchor") combined with a SaaS dashboard providing analytics, alerting and reporting. Connectivity is managed by the company, so customers require no SIM cards, data plans or IT configuration. The company has also drawn non-dilutive revenue from federal sources, including an EPA SBIR award and a USGS purchase order covering an Algae Tracker buoy system with standard and preventive maintenance.

Sale or supply of AlgaeTracker buoy systems paired with subscription-style access to the analytics dashboard and included cellular telemetry; maintenance is also contracted, as in the USGS purchase order for standard and preventive maintenance of an Algae Tracker buoy system.

Traction

Published customer material includes a Gulf Coast water treatment facility that moved monitoring upstream of its plant, with commentary from a hydrologist and senior lab chemist at Gulf Coast Water, and Nano Infusion Technologies, whose lead project manager described using AlgaeTracker data to assess water quality and validate treatment outcomes. The company received a USGS purchase order worth up to $19,584 in October 2021 for an Algae Tracker buoy system with standard and preventive maintenance, performed in Middleton, Wisconsin, and a $396,192 EPA SBIR Phase II award in 2021 following an earlier Phase I award of up to $100,000. Gust lists four employees and previous investor Techstars (unconfirmed).

Latest developments

Through 2025 the company published customer case studies and operational guidance, including a June 2025 account of a Gulf Coast water treatment facility moving monitoring upstream, May 2025 material on Nano Infusion Technologies' use of real-time data, and a September 2025 piece on calculating water treatment ROI from real-time monitoring. It also released guidance from CEO Christopher Lee on interpreting RFU, chlorophyll-a and phycocyanin readings and introduced dashboard field calibration and chlorophyll-to-phycocyanin ratio tooling. Satellite communication is listed as available in Q4 2025 alongside existing cellular connectivity.