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2008
October 2008 - Dan Speas Fish Rearing Station Phase II Nearing Completion
The State of Wyoming is in the process of completing construction on the second large scale expansion of the Dan Speas Fish Rearing Station in Casper, WY.
Phase I construction was completed in August 2007. PR Aqua provided the aquaculture equipment including: large vacuum degassers, low head oxygenation (LHO) and multiple culture tanks.
Phase II includes more degassing units, several large flow LHO's and a rotary drum filter, all supplied by PR Aqua. This expansion, slated for completion in June 2009, will allow the State to increase production, as well as, improve the water quality of the facility. The original facility operated on thirty serial reuse longitudinal raceways and produced roughly 100,000 pounds annually. The new facility will retain twenty raceways for small projects. The new rearing units consist of twelve each of our 12', 16', and 20' dual drain circulars for a total of 36 new tanks with radial flow separators also provided by PR Aqua. These units are on first use water, then the reuse is treated by drum filters and LHOs before supplying four 36' x 10' concrete units with radial separators, then through an LHO battery before a final use through the last set of four 36' x 10' units. Base production is set between 270,000 to 300,000 pounds. Also incorporated with the new production units is an effluent treatment system to concentrate and remove TSS or process the waste to a locate irrigation district.
September 2008 - Winner of TrojanUVMax™ Pro 15 System
Congratulations to Dr. Gidon Minkoff of Finn-Aqua Hatchery Consulting who won a TrojanUVMax™ Pro 15 System through PR Aqua's booth draw at the Aquaculture Pacific Exchange on Friday, September 26, 2008.
The TrojanUVMax™ product line is designed for residential, institutional and commercial applications, using the knowledge gained from developing leading-edge systems for water bottlers and large cities. TrojanUVMax™ has proven itself in tens of thousands of applications around the world.
August 2008 - PR Aqua Trojan/Aquafine UV Trained Technicians
PR Aqua is now qualified to provide service work for the Trojan UVLogic ultraviolet disinfection systems and the Aquafine UV equipment. Genny West and Kurt Lang both received service technician training from Aquafine Corporation who manufacture the Trojan UVLogic systems, as well as, all the Aquafine UV systems. This training will allow PR Aqua to provide troubleshooting over the phone, on site commissioning and on site servicing of this equipment. The training will also help serve customers better and provide back-up support to all our UV customers.
March 2008 - 12 OxyTowers for Mainstream Canada Hatchery
When Jack Edwards, Operations Manager of Mainstream Canada’s hatcheries was looking for more production at Boot Lagoon Hatchery he ordered 12 OxyTowers™ from PR Aqua.
Boot Lagoon Hatchery uses surface water from Great Central Lake, which carries an indigenous sockeye salmon stock; this requires the use of a very large UV system to disinfect all the process water for the flow-through hatchery. For cost and logistical reasons Jack made the decision to increase production without increasing the water supply.
By extending the rearing tank walls from 4 feet to 6 feet, each tank gained 30% additional volume. The installation of the complete OxyTower™ 500 reuse systems was engineered not only to handle the increased volume but also to increase tank exchanges from two hours to less than one. All in all Jack is very happy with the system and had this to say about them:
“The installation of the OxyTowers has resulted in a net gain of 30% in fish production in the extended reuse tanks while using 50% less O2. We no longer need to use oxygen diffusers in the tanks and we find that the reuse system allows for more efficient application of treatments such as the Supersmolt system. We are very happy to have achieved these results without impacting either the footprint or the water use of the facility”
January 2008 - New Heathro™ Pump for Powell River Hatchery
 The Powell River Salmon Enhancement Society has just taken delivery of a new gas powered Heathro™ Fish Pump to assist in the delivery of Chinook, coho and chum salmon fry. They produce close to 2,500,000 fry annually for release along British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver.
The Heathro™ Pump will greatly improve the efficiency of their fish loading operations and will reduce the need for fry to be moved by net from the rearing tanks to the transport truck making life easier for the volunteers and the fish. In the past, fish were crowded and netted from the rearing tank, carried up to 60 feet to the transport truck and then up a ladder into the truck. Now two people will crowd the fish in the tank, and the fish will easily and safely be pumped up into the truck.
The Powell River Salmon Enhancement Society is a non-profit organization and works in partnership with the Pacific Salmon Foundation. They rely heavily on a dedicated team of volunteers and receive funding from the Department of Fisheries & Oceans, and through donations and fund raising.
2007
November 2007– OxyTower Retrofit at Target Marine Hatchery
 Target Marine Hatcheries in Sechelt, British Columbia has two full recirculation hatchery cells of 550 m3 each, the Target Marine Hatchery staff is well acquainted with state of the art recirculation technology. This summer they made the decision to convert much of their old 30’ tank field from flow-through to partial reuse by purchasing and installing five OxyTower™ 500’s helping the hatchery move to a partial reuse system.
Due to the water shortages in the summer, Target has only been able to operate these tanks at full capacity for eight months of the year and been limited to the amount of fish they could produce but with the new OxyTowers™ they are able increase production while improving the quality and reducing the quantity of water required. Rob Haines, Hatchery Manager, said, “I am extremely pleased with the units’ performance and ease of install.”
Each of the PR Aqua OxyTower™ 500 gas balancing systems for Target included: gas balancing tower for flows of up to 500 USGpm, header tank and stand, pumping and oxygen distribution equipment which arrived on site ready to install at their culture tanks.
June 2007 - Proud Sponsor of Water Reuse Short Course
PR Aqua is proud to support the 2007 Reuse for Intensive Fish Culture Short Course organized by Freshwater Institute & Wyoming Game & Fish Department which provides a valuable opportunity for fish culturists to learn about emerging culture practices and technologies for aquaculture facilities.
March 2007 - Microscreen Drum Filter Internal Weir
 PR Aqua has an excellent, new option that enhances our long standing line of microscreen drum filters. We now offer our RFM drum filters with an internal weir for level control. What this means to our clients is that there is no need for our client to design level control for the drum filter in downstream plumbing, it is all taken care of within the unit. The weir maintains the water level within the drum filter housing which keeps the drum submerged to its design depth. This optimizes the performance of the filter and reduces the cost of installation as well as eases operation. The IW series of filters are quickly becoming our most popular unit.
2006
November 2006 - PR Aqua and Aquafine Corporation Sign Distribution Agreement
 PR Aqua and the Aquafine Corporation are pleased to announce that a sales distribution agreement has just been signed between the two companies making PR Aqua the exclusive North American Distributor for Aquafine and Trojan Technologies UV systems and parts to the Aquaculture industry.
PR Aqua has been working with Trojan since 2002 and has supplied UV systems into many aquaculture projects across North America. Now PR Aqua has access to the Aquafine product line allowing us to offer a broader range of products for more varied aquaculture applications to better suit our clients needs.
November 2006 - PR Aqua at Northwest Fish Culture Conference
PR Aqua will be attending the 57th Annual Northwest Fish Culture Conference being held in Portland Oregon on December 4 – 6, 2006.
Genny West will be presenting her paper “Reusing Raceway and Circular Tank Water” on December 5th at 9:30 am.
Come see PR Aqua’s vendor booth located in slot 1 & 2 displaying our products
September 2006 - Oxytower™ Demonstration in Nitinat Hatchery
 PR Aqua and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada have combined to demonstrate the effectiveness of the PR Aqua OxyTower™ when used in a raceway at the Nitinat Hatchery. The OxyTower™ which incorporates a forced air CO2 Stripper and an LHO™ into a single stacked unit will be placed at the head of a raceway and supplied with water from the foot of the raceway. The enhanced gas balancing and oxygenation is expected to permit reuse of a significant percentage of the raceway flow resulting in a major reduction of both water consumption and pumping costs.
This technology has been widely adopted in recirculation systems where it is typically incorporated into the water treatment system within a header tank. It has also been applied as a reuse technology in a header tank adjacent to a circular culture tank. However, adapting existing raceway facilities to incorporate these water reuse technologies has been problematic. The OxyTower™, which can be placed directly into the raceway is expected to minimize both infrastructure and operating costs. Results will be available as testing proceeds.
August 2006 - Commissioning of June Sucker Warm Water Hatchery in Logan, Utah
 Commissioning of the new PR Aqua designed recirculation hatchery facility at Logan Utah is substantially complete. This 98% recirculation hatchery was built to enhance a small flow-through facility attempting to save the endangered June Sucker. The warm water facility includes two systems: one system for research and for small fish up to 2 inches (1g) and a second system for larger fish up to 8 inches (80g). PR Aqua also designed and supplied most of the culture tanks and water treatment equipment used within this facility. Fish have now been transferred into the two recirculation systems and are thriving. We expect this facility to be operating at full capacity shortly.
August 2006 – Construction complete on Research Flume
A one-of-a-kind research facility, incorporating a research flume and related water systems designed by PR Aqua, has now been completed at the Bamfield Marine Station on western Vancouver Island. The 12m long x 2m wide x 1m deep flume is constructed entirely of glass permitting observation of fish, shellfish and other organisms from below, both sides and above in either fresh or salt water environments. Fully adjustable recirculating flow rates up to 1 m3/s (16,000 gpm) permit water velocities to more than 0.5 m/s in the full channel. The flume has been designed to accept insertion of a full range of accessories including screens, false bottoms, flow barriers and conditioners, and a full range of measuring equipment. Contact the Bamfield Marine Station or any member of the Western Canadian Universities Marine Sciences Society for access to the flume and contact PR Aqua to take advantage of our engineering services for your specialty project.
June 2006 - PR Aqua Wins Selection for Two Alaskan Fish Hatcheries
PR Aqua is pleased to announce that we have been selected as the most qualified contractor to provide recirculating coldwater fish production systems for both the Ruth Burnett Sport Fishing Hatchery in Fairbanks and the Anchorage Sport Fishing Hatchery in Alaska.
Wayne Gorrie, President of PR Aqua states " We are honored to have been selected to participate in two of the largest aquaculture projects in North America. This important contract reinforces PR Aqua's leadership role in the worldwide aquaculture market."
May 2006 - New Heathro™ Pump for Alaska a Big Hit!
 The Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Elmendorf Hatchery has just taken delivery of a new Heathro™ Fish Pump with wireless remote control as part of a grading and counting package. Bob McFadden, Assistant Manager at the Elmendorf Hatchery had this to say about the pump on its trial run.
“Today we finished breaking in the new Heathro™ Cart Mounted Fish Pump by pumping a thousand 267g fish into the stocking truck. The results were impressive with a total mortality of only 3 fish. There were several larger fish in the group over 400 grams that went through unharmed. The pump ran well and self primes in about 20 seconds. Very nice! The remote will be a very useful feature and has the potential of eliminating the need for a third person during truck loading. It’s nice to see a piece of equipment live up to its billing. So far so good.”
Since then, Bob used the pump to load 38,000 Rainbow into a transport truck for lake stocking with a mortality rate of less than 0.09%. He will be using the Heathro™ Pump in combination with a Vaki 4 Channel Macro Counter and Vaki 140cm Rotary Grader to pump, count, and grade Chinook Salmon, Rainbow Trout and Arctic Char.
April 2006 - Mobile Fish Transfer Station delivered to Wyoming
 The Wyoming Game & Fish Department, Wigwam Rearing Station in Ten Sleep Wyoming recently took delivery of a Mobile Fish Transfer Station dewatering trailer. In combination with a PR Aqua Heathro™ Fish Pump it allows them to dewater fish 100% before they enter a transport truck making for more accurate displacement weighing.
Hatchery Manager, Tim Kurtz said, “The guys at the hatchery love the new trailer and pump combination, it’s a great labor saving piece of equipment that’s gentle on fish. It’s quick to set up and can be stored in a garage with an 8’ door.”
Tim’s transport season has just started, and he plans on using the Mobile Fish Transfer Station many more time this year to move both Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout.
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