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Syracuse Startup Takes On Finger Lakes’ Harmful Algal Blooms Syracuse Startup Takes On Finger Lakes' Harmful Algal Blooms

By Andrew Rubino

Harmful al-gull blooms have affected Central New York’s Finger Lakes the past few summers.
All eleven finger lakes reported bloom in 2018 and Skaneateles Lake was one of many impacted last summer.
One company over at the Syracuse Tech Garden is trying to counteract these blooms.
“I just opened up the newspaper”
Eget Liber founder and CEO Jason Dean was inspired by the issue and created an underwater R-O-V, or remotely operated vehicle.
His prototype represents the ten by five feet vehicle that is trying to solve the toxin issue.
Dean uses a unique method when dealing with these blooms.
“Technology that I’m using to eradiate is really not the new technology.
What it is is the approach of dealing with the algae at the source”
Dean says that when al-gull blooms form large groups, they then produce toxins.
According to Dean, these toxins could contaminate drinking water or shut down finger lake beaches.
(“If we can get in there and start eradiating some of that water, we can hold it off”)
Dean’s vehicle uses a human controlled drone to identify the blooms, and the drone communicates the bloom location to the autonomous R-O-V. The R-O-V’s chamber of UV lights kills the toxins.
“Dean emphasized the R-O-V does not add any chemicals into the water or pull anything out of it.
The machine’s first test will be here at Skaneateles Lake this summer”
Frank Moses is the executive director of the Skaneateles Lake Association.
The S-L-A is the only nonprofit organization that solely focuses on the lake’s well being.
“The biggest issue that S-L-A is looking at is, is to see how we can best address harmful al-gull blooms”
Moses says he is open to any technology that could help the lake, including Dean’s R-O-V.
“We wanna explore every, every technology that could possibly pilot, be piloted to advance this lake, we are absolutely interested.”
Moses says he plans to meet with Dean and E-git Liber soon. Reporting for NCC News, I’m Andrew Ra-bean-o.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — A startup company from Syracuse has created a way to mitigate harmful algal blooms in Central New York. Jason Dean, CEO of Eget Liber, created a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to kill the toxins produced by the harmful algal blooms.

“Technology that I’m using to eradiate is really not the new technology. What it is, is the approach of dealing with the algae at the source,” said Dean.

Eget Liber is latin for chemical free. The ROV does not  spread chemicals into the lake when it is kills the toxins, according to Dean.

Skaneateles Lake is one of the Finger Lakes affected by these harmful algal blooms. In 2018, all 11 Finger Lakes reported harmful algal blooms.

“We wanna explore every, every technology that could possibly pilot, be piloted to advance this lake,” said Frank Moses, executive director of the Skaneateles Lake Association.

Dean said officials from southern U.S. states will be present for his vehicle’s initial research on Skaneateles Lake this summer.

Moses said he and Dean plan to meet in the near future.

Eget Liber is one of five finalists for the GENIUS NY business accelerator program at the Syracuse Technology Garden. The winner earns $1 million and the four runners-up earn $500,000.

 

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