Where to sample first
When you can’t test everywhere, we rank the sites most likely to be a problem this week — so limited crews cover the water that matters most.
For water agencies, utilities, labs, and researchers
Know which water to check first.
MBAL turns the monitoring data you already collect into a simple, ranked answer — where to sample, what to watch, and which warnings you can trust. For beaches, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and shellfish waters.
What we do
Three ways we help you act sooner.
Every project starts from a real decision your team already has to make — not from a technology demo.
Early warning you can trust
We flag likely blooms, closures, and contamination before they happen — and we’re honest about how confident we are each time.
Is this signal real?
Think a new measurement predicts trouble? We test it against what you’d do anyway and tell you straight whether it actually helps.
Proof it works
Real results, in plain numbers.
A few examples from live work — no lab jargon, just what changed on the ground.
Contamination caught, same crew
In California, ranking beaches by risk found about a third more high-bacteria days than the usual method — while collecting the exact same number of samples.
Red-tide outbreaks spotted early
In Florida, a red-tide watchlist flagged roughly 8 of every 10 new outbreaks while checking only 1 site in 5 — well ahead of the usual site-by-site approach.
Works in new places
A model trained only on California ranked shellfish-toxin risk along the coast of Ireland — thousands of miles away, with no local training data — better than any published method.
Want the technical detail, the exact numbers, and the results that didn’t work? Browse the full evidence library.
How we work
We only say it works when it really does.
Most environmental AI oversells. Our whole process is built to stop that from happening to you.
It has to beat the simple approach
If a plain rule — like “it rained, so post a warning” — works just as well, we tell you. We don’t dress up the obvious as AI.
Someone tries to prove it wrong
Every result gets a second, skeptical review before we stand behind it. Weak claims get narrowed or dropped, not shipped.
We show you the misses too
Knowing what doesn’t work saves you money and time. We put those results on the record, not just the wins.
See the full evidence library
Every result we’ve tested — including the ones we stopped — with the underlying data.
Where it works
Same approach, many kinds of water.
Whatever you monitor, the method is the same: start from your decision, beat the simple rule, and be honest about the result.
Beaches & estuaries
Bacteria warnings after rain and river flow.
Rivers & streams
Runoff, murky water, and contamination that moves downstream.
Lakes & reservoirs
Toxic-algae watchlists, low-oxygen stress, and smarter sampling.
Shellfish & harmful algae
Toxin risk, and where a bloom is likely to start next.
Low-oxygen zones
Early flags for the oxygen crashes that suffocate marine life.
Toxicity & wildlife
Water-toxicity screens and unusual marine die-off signals.
How to start
Four weeks to a clear yes or no.
Pick one water system and one decision. We’ll tell you whether your data can support it — and what the smallest useful tool would look like.
Pick one decision
Where to sample, what to watch, or a signal you want checked.
Share your data
Whatever you already collect — we’ll tell you what’s usable.
We test it fairly
Against the simple approach you’d use anyway.
You decide what’s next
A tool, a report, or an honest “not yet.”
Start here
Tell us about your water.
One water system, one decision, and roughly what data you hold. We’ll reply with whether it can work — and the smallest first step.