Water Quality

Rugged Buoy

The Rugged Buoy is a reliable, cost effective monitoring platform for long term deployment of water quality instruments and telemetry equipment in ponds, lakes, bays, rivers and coastal near shore environments.

Its saltwater resistant construction, UV resistant materials and self righting float help protect deployed equipment in demanding field conditions.

The Rugged Buoy is suitable for:

• Continuous coastal monitoring
• Continuous surface water monitoring
• Harmful algal bloom monitoring
• Dredging monitoring
• Water quality profiling
• Source water monitoring
• Lakes, rivers, ponds, bays and near shore coastal environments

Compatible Water Quality Meters

Compatible In-Situ devices include:

• Aqua TROLL 800
• Aqua TROLL 700
• Aqua TROLL 600
• Aqua TROLL 500
• Aqua TROLL 400

Standard Package

The Rugged Buoy standard package includes:

• Preassembled Rugged Buoy
• Durable plastic float
• Adjustable instrument well and well cap
• Lift strap
• Mooring hardware
• Well lock bolts
• Two zip ties

The Rugged Buoy comes fully assembled and is ready to be deployed out of the box and is easy to transport and deploy.

Purchase an optional Solar LED Marine Light to ensure the buoy complies with local regulations and so that it is safe and visible to maritime traffic.

Key Features

• Adjustable instrument well for flexible deployment depth
• Supports protected or suspended instrument deployments
• Foam filled, damage resistant float retains buoyancy if damaged
• Fully self righting when deployed with a mooring chain or rope
• Faceted, roll resistant float for stability during transport and deployment
• Saltwater resistant and UV resistant materials
• Load bearing well supports anchoring from the lowest point of the buoy
• Compact, collapsible design for transport and storage
• Designed for one person deployment and retrieval using integrated handles and shoulder strap

Deployment Options

The Rugged Buoy can be configured for protected or suspended monitoring deployments.

Protected deployment places the instrument, cable and compatible telemetry device inside the buoy’s adjustable well. This configuration helps protect the equipment during near surface monitoring.

Suspended deployment keeps a compatible telemetry device inside the well while the instrument is suspended below the buoy on a cable. This option supports monitoring at greater depths and can be used with cable splitters for multiple instruments.

The adjustable instrument well allows deployment in two inch increments, with an instrument depth below the waterline of approximately 0.4 to 1.06 m. Greater depths can be monitored by suspending the instrument below the buoy.

Monitoring and Telemetry Options

The Rugged Buoy can be used with In-Situ and compatible third party instruments.

When configured with VuLink telemetry, monitoring data can be transmitted to HydroVu data services or an external FTP server.

Logging instruments can also be deployed with a backshell hanger and downloaded during field visits.

Optional Accessories

Available accessories include:

• VuLink telemetry equipment
• Rugged Twist-Lock Cable, vented or non-vented
• Wireless TROLL Com
• Rugged Cable Splitter, vented or non-vented
• Sealite SL-15 solar marine light
• Anchor and mooring line
• Lift strap, well cap, well lock bolts and mooring hardware replacement parts

Note: The anchor, mooring line, instrument, telemetry equipment, cables and optional marine light are sold separately.

This product is manufactured by Ott/ In-Situ and proudly represented by Aqualab Scientific.