This tech firm is sounding out the salmon sector with a water-purification technique

After a breakthrough in shrimp, a Netherlands-based water purification startup is attempting to catch the attention of the salmon farming industry by using ultrasound waves to tackle a troublesome microorganism that causes significant losses in smolt.

Ultramins, founded in 2020 as a collaboration between entrepreneur Robert de Hoo and inventor Kees Luijkx, uses high-frequency ultrasound technology to purify water, potentially reducing the need for chemical treatment.

After several years of success in agriculture, with hundreds of customers in more than 50 countries, the company applied the technology at shrimp farms in Thailand and Indonesia. The latter farm, owned by Hendrikson Shrimping, says it reduced chlorine treatment and extended time before harvesting owing to the improved water quality.

The ultrasound tech is now undergoing early tests to see if it could address the salmon industry's challenges with  Saprolegnia , a fungus-like microorganism that typically affects fish in freshwater stages, said Eric van Velzen, business development and marketing manager at Ultramins.

The transmitters are about the size of a 1.5-liter cola bottle.Photo: Ultramins

Saprolegnia  has long been a challenge in freshwater smolt facilities and can result in significant mortalities.

Ultramins is the exclusive global distributor of cavitating ultrasonic transmitters, under the USAF trademark of Luijkx Ultrasound B.V.

The technology works by creating gas bubbles between water molecules, which then implode in a process called cavitation. The implosion sends a shockwave through the water, which helps eliminate algae, biofilm, fungi, bacteria and other pathogens.

The shockwaves “destroy harmful microorganisms without causing any harm to the shrimp,” Ultramins said in a statement, referring to the implementation of the transmitters at Hendrikson Shrimping’s farms in the Indonesian province of South Sumatra.

Full control

Onno Nienhuis, founder of Hendrikson Shrimping, said in the same statement that, by using the transmitters, his company had so far halved chlorine treatment in its ponds and that he believed a reduction of up to 70 percent is feasible.

“In the past, we sometimes had to harvest early due to disease outbreaks,” said Nienhuis. “Now we have full control.”

In Scotland, meanwhile, early-stage tests of the technology’s efficacy against  Saprolegnia  are under way. Pieter van West, a professor at the University of Aberdeen who was already studying  Saprolegnia , has begun early tests.

In addition, van Velzen told  IntraFish,  the technology is being tested by a salmon farming company in Scotland.

Attached link

Taxonomy

• Fish Farming