Startup flushes out water contaminants with real-time testing

Real Tech CEO Jodi Glover loves holding up a glass of water to explain what her company does.

“We’re all humans. We all drink water,” she said. “It’s a commonality so you can discuss it with anyone.”

But these days, it’s an easier sell. She told the Cleantech Group today that the Whitby, Ontario-based company is seeing an uptick in business because of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations that affect about 75,000 water treatment plants in the United States. The regulations concern stricter guidelines on disinfection bi-products, or toxins, coming out of the plants.

Founded in 2004, her company has developed a line of water quality testing products, including a portable version and an online monitor, which are serving the water, wastewater, and industrial industries.

Water needs to be chlorinated, she said, but if there are organics in the water and chlorine is added, it can lead to carcinogens that cause cancer.

The company’s instrumentation offers real-time monitoring 24 hours a day, seven days a week of emerging contamination threats, such as whether the water is laden with organic matter that can have harmful consequences, she said.

“If they don’t have a real-time monitor, companies are sending it out for organic loading testing,” said Glover, adding that this can take five days for results by mail, and by then, damage has often already been caused.

The company's patent and patent pending technologies also help to ensure that water being discharged from pulp and paper mills, textile manufacturing, petrochemical, and food and beverage businesses isn’t polluted, she said.

Glover said UV254 testing parameters, which use the power of ultraviolet light to detect harmful bacteria in water, have emerged as a solution, and Real Tech is the global leader for UV254 testing.

“What we do is shine light at the 254-meter wave length through a small sample of water, and then reactive organics have absorption properties at the wave length,” she said. “The sensor will be able to detect or show if you have organics in the water.”

The company’s technology has been deployed in 25 countries around the world, with customers including Coca-Cola, Siemens, Calgon Carbon (NYSE:CCC), a global manufacturer and supplier of activated carbon and innovative treatment systems, as well as government health departments, and the city of Tucson, Ariz., to name a few.

The city of Halifax also became a recent Real Tech customer when some of its water discharge wasn’t meeting appropriate testing levels, Glover said.

Real Tech is seeking $1 million to $2 million from angel or venture capital investors to further its commercialization and sales efforts, and expand the technology with new designs. Glover said the company is currently in the due diligence phase, after connecting with potential investors at the Cleantech Group's Boston Forum (see MaRS makes its first foray into the cleantech spotlight).

Without disclosing specific revenue figures, she said Real Tech turned a profit last year.

“We have high profit margins for our units,” Glover said.

Real Tech’s main competition is Fort Myers, Fla.-based HF Scientific, although Glover said her company offers more accurate and reliable implementation at a lower cost.

Real Tech’s portable products cost around $1,500, while the online monitors go for about $7,000. One large municipal plant would need multiple monitors, at various stages, from monitoring raw water that comes in to what goes out.

Other competition includes Tel Aviv, Israel-based CheckLight, which is seeking $10 million to build its sales and marketing network and expand globally. The company develops real-time water quality testing and monitoring kits (see Deep sea aquaculture startup prepares for harvest).

On the research front, Sydney, Australia-based University of New South Wales' Water Research Centre released a review earlier this year identifying how sensitive detection of contaminated recycled water systems may be attained by monitoring certain fluorescent peaks (see Report: Glowing contaminants may point to new water quality test).

Real Tech one of 10 potential new investment opportunities the Cleantech Group added to its innovation pipeline this week, available exclusively to members of the Cleantech Network. Members can click here to search the database.

Interested in emerging cleantech innovations? Here are two new international companies added to the Cleantech Group's database this week also looking for funding:

• NavSemi Technologies, with offices in San Jose, Calif., Bangalore and Delhi, is seeking funding for its technology that it says increases solar energy harvested for grid-tied and stand-alone solar systems, while improving system availability and reducing operating costs. The company has raised $180,000 in the last 12 months.
• New Delhi, India-based Sikand Standley is seeking funding, as India’s exclusive distributor for U.S.-based BG Products, which manufactures automotive chemicals and conditioners. Sikand Standley offers fuel economy and pollution abatement products for petrol/diesel engines from BG Products, as well as a waterless car wash from DWG-DriWash.

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