Every organism in a lake sheds genetic material into the water — skin cells, scales, mucus, pollen, spores. Filter a litre of that water, sequence what is caught on the filter, and you get a list of what has recently been in it: fish, plants, algae, invertebrates, and in many cases pathogens. No nets, no electrofishing, no diver, no specialist training.

Sold in sets of three. Three samples is the minimum order and it is deliberate — a single sample describes one corner of a lake, and three sites across different habitats is what makes the result a survey rather than a data point. On-site filtration takes roughly five minutes per sample using a syringe and an encapsulated filter, and the preservation system means samples ship at room temperature by ordinary post.

You keep the raw sequence files. That is what turns this from a test into a record — reference libraries improve every year, and archived data can be reprocessed against a better one later.

Note on methodology: eDNA metabarcoding is not an EPA-approved method. It is a survey and screening tool, and results are not suitable for regulatory or compliance use.