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Our Story

In the early 2000s, engineers and researchers were grappling with the evolving challenges of stormwater management. Traditional, "passive" systems often required difficult tradeoffs. For example, minimizing flood risk might limit the ability to reuse or infiltrate collected water. Nevermind the fact that accurately measuring a system’s impact was a complex task not required by most regulations, meaning most engineers never knew how well their designs ever performed! Simply put, designing effective stormwater systems that could do multiple things at once – protect communities, support environmental goals, and stay effective as rainfall patterns changed and the community developed around them – was not happening in practice.

During this time, Geosyntec Consultants was at the forefront of both stormwater engineering and research. They played a key role in developing the International BMP Database, giving them a bird’s-eye view of how stormwater systems were designed, maintained, and assumed to be working across the industry. At the same time, their research for NOAA into controlling water flow in salt marshes sparked a bigger question: Could we use technology to better manage water in our cities by “redesigning” the stormwater facilities to be perfectly-sized for every storm? While initial experiments were promising, the early attempts at real-time controls were complicated and hard to maintain, limiting their use to research settings.

Then, in 2010, a pivotal moment arrived. Geosyntec acquired Rainwater Recovery, a company specializing in rainwater harvesting systems and green infrastructure. This acquisition, combined with emerging Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud technologies, created the perfect environment for innovation. Unencumbered by legacy IT and motivated to ensure the new acquisition succeeded, a team was created  to develop technology to apply Geosyntec’s research to manage stormwater runoff, reuse it for things like irrigation and groundwater recharge, and prove with data that each project actually worked as expected. Incredibly, within a week, a working demo and a first client were secured. This rapid progress led to a patented system (3 US Patents) that uses the weather forecasts and real-time controls to achieve multiple objectives with the same facility.

Working with NC State University from 2010-2013, the team behind what would become "OptiStorm" refined their technology, achieving amazing results: reductions of over 90% in wet weather releases and peak flows, all while reusing the captured water. This was a game-changer. Over the next few years, they expanded the technology to different types of stormwater systems across the US, and developed new strategies for specific challenges, like minimizing nutrients in effluents in the mid-Atlantic, timing releases to minimize combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in New England, and reducing erosion in the Pacific Northwest. It became clear that this technology had the potential to improve any stormwater system. As a result, Geosyntec spun off this service as its own company: OptiRTC, Inc (Opti).

From 2014 to 2016, Opti grew from a small team of consultants into a full-fledged technology company, adding key people who helped make the business as strong as its technology. Opti gained regulatory approvals, introduced the term Continuous Monitoring and Adaptive Control (CMAC) to the industry, and worked to standardize its systems to better serve its customers. Opti also developed ways to connect stormwater systems across communities, leading to even greater collective benefits. By 2020, Opti was helping cities like Albany, NY, reduce sewage overflows using a coordinated system.

In 2022, Opti joined forces with Aliaxis, a major infrastructure company, to bring its technology to more cities and strengthen its partnerships with engineering consultants. Today, Opti is focused on making it easier for customers and their partners to manage the performance of their watersheds across every stormwater facility, from design and operations to monitoring, control and reporting.

Opti's story is one of community need, technological innovation, and the right moment in time. It started with the recognition that traditional stormwater designs often fell short, and grew into a revolutionary solution that is helping communities manage their water resources more effectively than ever before.