On a mission to beat algae blooms - with Malia Chavinson

Lakeside residents like us are no strangers to the consequences of accelerating climate change: look no further than cyanobacterial blooms. Cyanobacterial blooms are just one phenomenon set to intensify and expand thanks to warming waters and increasing nutrient pollution. In 2025, the US spent billions preventing and remediating algae blooms, including drinking water treatment, and lost billions more to weakened tourism and depressed property values. It’s always been a costly problem that is set to get more costly. 

Meet Malia Chavinson.  Her company, Naiad Technologies, is capturing lake pollutants to mitigate toxic algae blooms.

Born and raised just outside of San Francisco, California, Malia is no stranger to environmentally forward policies and pledges. More often than not, such pledges and promises focused on reducing future emissions, called decarbonization, even as the present cities around her burned or succumbed to sea level rise. Decarbonization, while well meaning, doesn’t fortify communities with the necessary resiliency and adaptation as climate change progresses. 

Malia was frustrated with the funding, awareness, and knowledge gap between sustainability as solely “decarbonization” and sustainability as “adaptability”. “Adaptability” involves helping communities like us, most at risk from climate change consequences, solve our issues. 

So, she decided to do something about it, and Naiad Technologies was born. 

Naiad Technologies makes a scalable buoy system for lakeside communities that permanently removes polluting nutrients to mitigate toxic algae blooms, protect ecosystems, and minimize economic losses.

Current incumbent solutions tackling algae blooms cost anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars, putting them out of reach for the many lakes and ponds that don't qualify for, or can't compete for, government grants. Additionally, they fail to permanently remove phosphates from the water and use tactics harming the health and longevity of aquatic ecosystems.

Naiad Technologies’ product design is straightforward. Phosphorus-laden water enters the buoy, phosphorus is extracted and stored in the internal filter system, and clean, phosphate-depleted water is sent out. A single buoy can filter an area of 30 acres. Simple, scalable, affordable. When the internal filter package becomes saturated with phosphates after about 6 months of use, it is swapped out for a new one.

What’s more, Naiad Technologies employs a “closed-system”, keeping the treatment process contained so it doesn't adversely affect the surrounding environment. 

Malia is currently looking for lakeside associations or equivalent governing bodies who’d be interested in serving as pilot locations for Naiad Technologies’ product. You can reach her at the email address malia@naiadtechnologies.org. Tell her Rick and Matthew sent you so she knows how you found her.