Let's be blunt. Potentially toxic waste is just about the last thing you want to get in the mail. And that's just one of the opportunities for AI to make the business of analyzing wastewater better.
It's an industry that goes far beyond just making sure water coming from traditional sewage plants is clean.
Just about every industry on earth - from computer chips to potato chips - relies on putting water to work, which means we're all, literally, swimming in the stuff.
Just What the Doctor Ordered It's also an industry that depends on moving samples through the mail to be analyzed by human experts.
That started to change, however, thanks to a conversation Opseyes founder Bryan Arndt, then a managing consultant with Denmark-based architecture and engineering firm Ramboll, had with his brother, a radiologist.
Arndt was intrigued when his brother described how deep learning was being set loose on medical images.
Arndt quickly realized that the same technology - deep learning - that helps radiologists analyze images of the human body faster and more accurately could almost instantly analyze images, taken through microscopes, of wastewater samples.
Faster Flow The result, developed by Arndt and his colleagues at Ramboll, a wastewater industry leader for more than 50 years, dramatically speeds up an industry that's long relied on sending tightly sealed samples of some of the stinkiest stuff on earth through the mail.
That's critical when cities and towns and industries of all kinds are constantly taking water from lakes and rivers, like the Mississippi, treating it, and returning it to nature.
We had one client find out their discharge was a quarter-mile, at best, from the intake for the next city's water supply, Arndt says. Someone is always drinking what your tube is putting out.
That makes wastewater enormously important.
Water, Water, Everywhere It's an industry that was kicked off by the 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act, a landmark not just in the United States, but globally.
Thanks to growing awareness of the importance of clean water, analysts estimate the global wastewater treatment market will be worth more than $210 billion by 2025.
The challenge: while almost every industry creates wastewater, wastewater expertise isn't exactly ubiquitous.
Experts who can peer through a microscope and identify, say, the six most common bacterial filaments as they're known in the industry, or critters such as tardigrades, are scarce.
You've Got Ugh That means samples of wastewater, or soil containing that water, have to be sent through the mail to get to these experts, who often have a backlog of samples to go through.
While Ardnt says people in his industry take precautions to seal potentially toxic waste and track it to ensure it gets to the right place, it's still time-consuming.
The solution, Arndt realized, was to use deep learning to train an AI that could yield instantaneous results. To do this, last year Arndt reached out on social media to colleagues throughout the wastewater industry to send him samples.
Least Sexy Photoshoot Ever He and his small team then spent months creating more than 6,000 images of these samples in Ramboll's U.S. labs, where they build elaborate models of wastewater systems before deploying full-scale systems for clients. Think of it as the least sexy photoshoot, ever.
These images were then labeled and used by a data science team lead by Robin Schlenga to train a convolutional neural network accelerated by NVIDIA GPUs. Launched last September after a year-and-a-half of development, Opseyes allows customers to use their smartphone to take a picture of a sample through a microscope and get answers within minutes.
It's just another example of how expertise in companies seemingly far outside of tech can be transformed into an AI. After all, no one wants to have to wait a week to know if it's safe to take a sip of water, Arndt says.
Bottoms up.
Featured image credit: Opseyes
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
05/03/2026
Clear-Com has provided Gen-IC virtual intercom, its cloud-based voice communications system for SaxaVord Spaceport, the first fully licensed vertical launch s...
05/03/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) concluded the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, convening more than 800 industry leaders, technologists, creatives and executi...
05/03/2026
LynTec, a leading manufacturer of electrical power control solutions for professional audio, video, and lighting systems, today announced that its new Dual DMX ...
05/03/2026
Snicket Labs is pleased to announce a new distribution partnership with ES Broadcast for its award winning solutions, Match and Enrich.
Under the agreement, ES...
05/03/2026
LiveU today announced the first large-scale deployment of its AI-driven LiveU IQ (LIQ ) technology at a global, multi-venue sporting event, setting a new benchm...
04/03/2026
Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the governing body for Italy's premier basketball...
04/03/2026
Wrexham AFC co-chairmen Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds will host a first-of-its-kind ...
04/03/2026
The countdown is underway and with just 100 days to go until the world's greatest sporting event begins on Thurs., June 11, FOX Sports, America's Englis...
04/03/2026
No matter where they are in the world, service members and veterans can stream N...
04/03/2026
Telemundo officially releases Somos M s, the anthem for the network's cove...
04/03/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) concluded the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, convening more than 800 industry leaders, technologists, creatives, and execut...
04/03/2026
Smith Entertainment Group transformed how local sports are consumed by creating ...
04/03/2026
The production method, which spans a distance of 36.2 miles, was designed and im...
04/03/2026
Haivision, a global provider of mission-critical, real-time video networking and...
04/03/2026
When Hugues Meyrath came out of retirement to take the helm as CEO of Quantum, i...
04/03/2026
Last week's launch of Banana Ball Championship League has spurred a significant upgrade of production facilities
The Savannah Bananas, arguably the hottest...
04/03/2026
sldkfjsdlfkjsldkfjsldkjfslkdjfslkdjfsl
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus...
04/03/2026
For many fans, a song's backstory can be just as compelling as the final pro...
04/03/2026
In 2006, Spotify was founded on the belief that technology could bring artists a...
04/03/2026
Spotify is back on the ground for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and we&#...
04/03/2026
Spotify had an energizing week in Sydney, Australia, filled with powerful conver...
04/03/2026
Earlier this year, we launched Directed By, a documentary-style series that pull...
04/03/2026
100 Days to Go: SBS Unveils World Class Team for The Greatest Show on Earth -The...
04/03/2026
KT and Rohde & Schwarz to showcase AI-enhanced radio transmission performance In a joint 6G AI proof-of-concept demonstration, the CMX500 one-box tester from ...
04/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/03/2026
Luxembourg, 3 March 2026 - SES S.A. has today published its 2025 Annual Report, following the announcement of the company's full year financial results for ...
04/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/03/2026
Luxembourg, March 3, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, along with I...
04/03/2026
04 Mar 2026
VEON Partners with GSMA Innovation Fund to Accelerate Digital Innov...
04/03/2026
04 Mar 2026
VEON's Beeline Uzbekistan and Rakuten Symphony Partner for Open...
04/03/2026
Wednesday 4 March 2026
Sky Sports unveils plans for 2026 Formula 1 coverage
Sky Sports is preparing for one of the most highly anticipated F1 seasons in recen...
04/03/2026
Back to All News
Bloodhounds' Season 2 Gears Up for April 3 Premiere with ...
04/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Ads Suite Expands Capabilities
Business
04 March 2026
GlobalUnited States
Link copied to clipboard
After launching the Netflix Ad...
04/03/2026
Scripps Research welcomes healthcare innovator Joe Kiani to the Board of Directors Kiani brings decades of experience in patient safety and public service.
Mar...
04/03/2026
Nanoparticle vaccine approach takes on a new target: Hepatitis C virus Scripps Research scientists reengineer critical proteins on the surface of HCV, paving th...
03/03/2026
Beyond Sports, a Sony group company, and LIV Golf, the world's golf league, ...
03/03/2026
Ilitch Sports + Entertainment announces the launch of Detroit SportsNet (DSN), a year-round broadcast home for two of Detroit's franchises. With flexible op...
03/03/2026
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media ...
03/03/2026
The PGA of America, NBC Sports and USA Sports extend their media rights agreemen...
03/03/2026
AI device ecosystem company HONOR enters into a strategic technical collaboratio...
03/03/2026
Cleveland's Telos Alliance, pioneers in broadcast technology for 30 years, l...
03/03/2026
The MD 9235 microphone head for wireless handhelds has been a firm favorite with many engineers and artists for its ability to cut through high on-stage levels ...
03/03/2026
Haivision Systems Inc. (Haivision), a global provider of mission-critical, real-...
Let's be blunt. Potentially toxic waste is just about the last thing you want to get in the mail. And that's just one of the opportunities for AI to make the business of analyzing wastewater better.
