A Seaside Labs Division

Affordable water quality monitoring for every coastline

Solar-powered sensor buoys delivering real-time pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and turbidity data. Built for communities, priced for municipalities.

Water monitoring shouldn't cost $50,000

Traditional water quality monitoring stations cost tens of thousands of dollars, require professional installation, and deliver data days or weeks after collection. Coastal communities — the ones who need it most — can't afford it.

Buzzards Bay alone has 400+ miles of coastline with limited real-time monitoring coverage. Harmful algal blooms, nitrogen loading, and climate-driven changes need faster detection.

TideClaw solves this

  • $167-210 per buoy — 100x cheaper than traditional stations
  • Solar-powered — no wiring, no utility costs
  • 15-minute readings — real-time data, not weekly samples
  • WiFi backhaul — data flows to a public monitoring dashboard
  • Open data — community access to their own water quality data

Built tough, built smart

Each TideClaw buoy is designed for year-round deployment in New England coastal waters.

ESP32
Microcontroller
WiFi + Bluetooth, low power, MicroPython firmware
4 Sensors
Water Quality
pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, turbidity
15 min
Reading Interval
Configurable from 1 min to 1 hour
Solar
Power Source
6W panel + 18650 battery bank, year-round operation
$167-210
Unit Cost
Complete BOM including waterproof enclosure (estimated)
Real-time
Dashboard
Public web dashboard with historical trends and alerts (launching with pilot)

Swifts Beach, Wareham MA

Our first planned deployment targets Swifts Beach on Buzzards Bay — a community directly affected by water quality changes. The pilot will demonstrate TideClaw's capabilities to municipal partners and grant organizations.

Pilot Details

Three buoys deployed at strategic points around Swifts Beach, monitoring water quality in real-time and feeding data to a public dashboard. Partnering with local environmental organizations for scientific validation.

Location
Swifts Beach, Wareham
Buoys
Planned 3 units
Bay
Buzzards Bay
Data
Public Dashboard

Grant-ready from day one

TideClaw is designed to align with existing federal, state, and regional water quality monitoring grants. Over $5 million in annual funding is available for projects like this.

MassDEP Water Quality Monitoring

$40-75K · No match required

SNEP Watershed Grants

$100-300K · Southeast New England Program

Buzzards Bay NEP Mini-Grants

Up to $50K · 33% match (in-kind OK)

CWA Section 319

$50-200K · Match waived current cycle

MA Coastal Pollutant Remediation

Up to $175K · 25% match

Community One Stop for Growth

$25K-$1M+ · MA state program

Grant opportunities identified through public program research. Application windows and eligibility requirements vary by program and year.

Built to last beyond the grant

TideClaw is designed as a self-sustaining monitoring network. Each deployment shares infrastructure with local connectivity services, creating ongoing value that funds continued operation after initial grant funding ends. One investment creates a permanent community resource — not a one-time study that goes dark when funding runs out.

Our approach complements existing monitoring programs like manual water sampling — adding continuous, real-time data between periodic collection events. More data points, faster detection, better protection.

Working with the people who know these waters

TideClaw is designed to complement existing monitoring programs, not replace them. We're seeking partnerships with the organizations that have protected Buzzards Bay for decades.

Buzzards Bay Coalition · Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program · SBIA · Town of Wareham

Interested in TideClaw for your community?

Whether you're a municipal leader, environmental organization, or grant program — we'd love to talk about bringing affordable water quality monitoring to your coastline.

Get in Touch