Hach & Aquatic Informatics Partnership

Effective May, 2022

The Partnership Between
Hach & Aquatic Informatics

The products within the Hach Data Management Solutions Portfolio, including WIMS and Claros Collect, have been centralized at Aquatic Informatics along with their existing product, WaterTrax and the new Rio product, to leverage Aquatic Informatics’ experience as a world-class provider of water data management software and cloud solutions to support our customers in their data management journeys.

Hach WIMS will now be known simply as WIMS, while Rio, formerly known as ACO, is the new software solution that takes the place of Claros Collect. The Hach Implementation and Support teams, and subject matter experts that you have traditionally worked with are now part of the Aquatic Informatics team and will continue to provide you with service and support.

A. Existing WIMS Customers with Collect

B. Existing WIMS Customers without Collect

C. Existing Collect users without WIMS

D. Frequently Asked Questions

Existing WIMS Customers with Collect

Overview of Rio as a Replacement for Collect
We are reaching out to WIMS customers, who have also been using Claros Collect, to share that Rio is the replacement for Claros Collect. Rio allows data to be collected in the field and imported into WIMS, just like Collect.

The Aquatic Informatics Account Management team will be reaching out a minimum of three months before your renewal date to upgrade your organization to Rio and establish the flow of data into WIMS through Rio. You will be provided with instructions on how to upgrade your data team’s mobile applications to Rio. While your mobile app will change from Claros Collect to Rio, you will continue to use WIMS with no changes.

Your subscription price for Claros Collect will remain unchanged for up to 2 years on the new Rio mobile data collection software. If your data usage audit is higher than what was quoted, we will provide several upgrade options to support your transition to Rio.

What’s Different Between Rio and Collect?
Rio provides more flexible naming for locations and parameters and allows Monthly Data Entry Forms to be imported to use in Rio. Your WIMS set up can also be imported, providing a user experience more like WIMS. The Bluetooth device capabilities that were found in Claros Collect will NOT be available through Rio. If you have questions about Bluetooth instrumentation, or were using that in association with Claros Collect, please reach out to (800)-677-0067 Extension 2.

For software support, please contact Aquatic Informatics Support at wims_support@aquaticinformatics.com or 1-(877) 546-5699 x 1.

Existing WIMS Customers without Collect

Overview of Rio for WIMS Customers
We are reaching out to WIMS customers to share a new water data management product we recently launched. Rio, is the next generation in compliance and operations data management, patterned on the best features of both WIMS and WaterTrax to combine multiple data sources into regulatory reporting, visualization, and decision support. Developed by Aquatic Informatics, Rio is a powerful addition to the WIMS system you are currently using, and it will provide you with field data collection. If your organization could benefit from field data collection, please reach out to your Hach sales representative or email us directly at sales@aquaticinformatics.com to discuss how you’re using WIMS today and how other solutions like Rio could further improve your organization’s performance in the future.

Existing Collect Users without WIMS

Overview of Rio as a Replacement for Collect
We are reaching out to Claros Collect Users, to share that Rio is replacing Claros Collect as a field data collection and water data management solution. Like Claros Collect, Rio allows data to be collected in the field and imported into Excel or other data management solutions, but also provides a powerful operations and compliance feature set in an easy-to-use cloud-based solution.

If you are interested in learning more about Rio and to discuss options for adopting Rio, please reach out to your Hach sales representative or email us at sales@aquaticinformatics.com

What’s Different Between Rio and Collect?
In comparison to Claros Collect, Rio provides more flexible naming for locations and parameters, an improved user experience, ability to calculate values, improved graphing, and compliance reporting systems. The Bluetooth device capabilities that were found in Claros Collect will NOT be available through Rio. If you have questions about Bluetooth instrumentation, or were using that in association with Claros Collect, please reach out to (800)-677-0067 Extension 2.

For software support, please contact Aquatic Informatics Support at wims_support@aquaticinformatics.com or 1-(877) 546-5699 x 1.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Changing? 
Aquatic Informatics was acquired by Danaher in July of 2020, joining Hach in the family of Danaher Operating Companies. Select solutions in the Hach Claros data management portfolio, including WIMS, Claros Collect, and Rio are now centralized with Aquatic Informatics, which will be providing all support, service, and product development for these products. Aquatic Informatics will also be playing a larger role in supporting sales, including support and subscription renewals, and we will be working closely with your Hach sales representative through the sales process.  

The Hach Implementation and Support teams, and subject matter experts that you have traditionally worked with are now part of the Aquatic Informatics team and will continue to provide you with service and support.

The WIMS and WIMS Online platforms are not changing at this time, but we are working to accelerate development of an exciting new software platform, Rio. We are working to deprecate Claros Collect support and upgrade current Claros Collect customers in the U.S. and Canada to the new Rio software solution.  

Who is Aquatic Informatics? 
With headquarters in Vancouver Canada, Aquatic Informatics has provided software solutions, for almost 20 years, that address critical water data management, analytics, and compliance challenges for the rapidly growing water industry. Water monitoring agencies worldwide trust Aquatic Informatics to acquire, process, model, and publish water information in real time. We offer a full range of solutions across the water cycle that drive efficient management of critical water data and information to help protect human health and reduce environmental impact. With solutions for compliance reporting, operations data management, asset and work order management, and real-time time-series monitoring, Aquatic Informatics has solutions that scale from the smallest utility to nationwide programs supporting thousands of users. You can learn more about Aquatic Informatics and our software solutions at https://aquaticinformatics.com.  

What is the relationship between Hach and Aquatic Informatics? 
Hach and Aquatic Informatics are separate operating companies within the Danaher Water Quality Platform, which together provide you with a powerful array of water management solutions. We operate separately but collaborate to enable Danaher’s Shared Purpose – Helping Realize Life’s Potential – and our shared Water Platform mission to advance the quality and delivery of water. 

Why are these changes happening? 
The Hach products in the data management portfolio have been centralized to Aquatic Informatics to leverage Aquatic Informatics’ experience as a world-class provider of water data management solutions to support our customers in their data management journeys. 

Hach Collect is being replaced by Rio to equip customers with an innovative cloud-based solution supported by a powerful future roadmap with continued investment, innovative feature sets and improved capabilities. 

The Hach and Aquatic Informatics commitment to Danaher Business System (DBS) principles of innovation and constant improvement have driven these changes, which will improve implementation, support, and enablement of Rio and WIMS through Aquatic Informatics’ service and support organization and provide valuable access to the Aquatic Informatics Learning Management System within Aquatic Informatics’ Aquatic Academy. 

What is happening with my WIMS and WIMS Online renewal?
Because Aquatic Informatics has the software account management capabilities to best manage your software/subscription entitlement and renewal data, your renewals will be transitioning over to Aquatic Informatics. Aquatic Informatics’ Account Managers will work closely with your Hach Sales Representatives to ensure that your notice of renewal and quotation reaches you so that you can renew in a timely manner. They will work with you in setting up Aquatic Informatics as a vendor in your system so your renewal will not be interrupted. In some situations where you have a statewide purchasing contract, we will work with you on how your renewal is best handled. All customers should be expecting to hear from Aquatic Informatics Account Managers regarding your renewal at least three months prior to your renewal date. We have designed this process to help support your Hach sales representative, and rest assured that you will continue to work closely with them on a day-to-day basis.

What is the Rio solution? 
Rio is the next generation in compliance and operations data management solutions. Developed by Aquatic Informatics, Rio is the home for your operations data and enables you to organize all your data sources, from lab, process, and field, into one secure, cloud-based location, simplifying data sharing and analytics, while protecting data integrity.

How does RIO fit with Claros and Hach’s Claros Enabled Devices? 
Rio is part of the Claros data management solutions and will continue to integrate with Claros’ Mobile Sensor Management (MSM) solution.  There are no plans to directly interface Rio with Hach Claros-enabled field instruments.    

Why is Rio not on the Hach website? 
Because you’re an existing WIMS/Collect customer, you’re getting early access to the Rio product. In the coming weeks, Rio product information will be accessible through the Hach website by viewing the data management section of the Claros webpages as well as through the Aquatic Informatics website. 