“Instead of treating the entire 2000 acres of a lake at $450/acre, you can pinpoint problems and only treat 100 acres”

Baker’s company, Blue Water Satellite, works with various state, municipal, and government agencies, as well as utilities, oil and gas companies, and other organizations responsible for managing water bodies. “Our images allow responsible organizations to get an immediate assessment of water conditions right from their desktop without having to dispatch sampling teams,” states Baker. “And unlike physical sampling, we provide a complete picture of what’s happening across the entire body of water.”

Baker believes his image technology can help prevent events like the Pigeon Lake incident. “We are a powerful new tool for water body managers to use for assessment, early detection of problems, and the development of remediation strategies.”

Using BWS images, organizations can “treat” only those portions of the water body showing problems. “Instead of treating the entire 2000 acres of a lake at $450/acre, you can pinpoint problems and only treat 100 acres,” continued Baker.

Most of BWS images provide a resolution of 5 samples per acre (although they do offer higher resolution). When this information is overlaid with GIS data, remediation teams can be dispatched to exact coordinates for treatment that is cost and time-efficient.

In addition, BWS can provide historical images of the lake dating back to 1984 allowing their clients to trace the origins of the problem and determine rates of contaminant growth.