Sea water treatment for shrimp farming
Global demand for seafood remains high, yet farming shrimps in aquaculture is a tricky business. Disinfection and desalination systems significantly improve the water quality in the breeding tanks, thereby improving the shrimp survival rate.
Aquaculture - a growth market
Shrimps are a popular delicacy, especially in Europe and the USA. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), approximately 3.5 million tons of "white" shrimps are now produced annually. China and Thailand are the largest producers and Thailand is the world's biggest exporter: in 2012, the country sold around 72,500 tons of shrimps to the EU. To meet the ever-growing demand, the sensitive crustaceans are now often farmed in aquaculture. But this is a tricky business because the high-intensity breeding procedures often used mean that disease in the jam-packed concrete tanks can wipe out all the shrimps in them.
So one of Thailand's biggest shrimp-farming operations is going about things differently and using a high-tech solution for cost-effectiveness and for the health of the animals. During the tendering process, ProMinent Thailand won over the shrimp producer with its customised water treatment solution.
Key Data
- 3.5 million tons of "white" shrimps are now produced annually (worldwide)
- Thailand is the world's biggest exporter
- In 2012, the country sold around 72,500 tons of shrimps to the EU
- Customised water treatment solution
Ingenious water treatment
There are several stages to treating the water for the breeding tanks. First of all, a ProMinent gravity filter SK-48 cleans the pumped sea water of large impurities such as algae or mussels. The disinfection process follows and involves metering chlorine and the use of four ozone generation systems OZONFILT® OZMa, which together produce up to 320 grams of ozone per hour. Virtually all the remaining ozone and chlorine is removed from the disinfected sea water by an active carbon filter system.
In the next stage of the process, ProMinent process pumps working at a pressure of up to 70 bar press the treated water through the diaphragms of a reverse osmosis system Dulcosmose® SW. Around 97% of the original salt content is removed from the sea water in this desalination process. Before the fully treated sea water then flows back into the breeding tanks, it is tested for compliance with certain water parameters in accordance with the requirements of the World Health Organization. For example, its pH must be between 7.5 and 8.5. A pH sensor, controller Dulcometer and automatic metering system from ProMinent continuously check and precisely regulate the pH.
Optimum water quality, healthy shrimps
The turnkey water treatment system was designed by ProMinent Thailand to meet the special requirements of shrimp farmers. The customer benefits several times over. Thanks to the assurance of reliable disinfection and perfect water quality at all times, the shrimp survival rate has increased from 45 to 60 percent to over 70 percent. What's more, having its own sea water treatment system makes the company virtually fully independent of the public water supplier. A massive reduction in fresh water consumption has cut annual operating costs by tens of thousands of US dollars. And the partial desalination of the sea water has made regular salt deliveries unnecessary, resulting in further significant cost savings of approx. 40.000 USD/year. All in all a very worthwhile investment in an economical and environmentally-sound solution.
- Efficient treatment of sea water in several process stages
- Reliable disinfection with ozone generation systems and effective desalination with a reverse osmosis system
- Perfect water quality ensures profitable shrimp farming
- Huge saving in resources results in much lower operating costs
Used Products - Sea water treatment for shrimp farming
Contact us
Mr. Vikalp Tripathi
Managing Director, Heidelberg ProMinent Fluid Controls India Pvt. Ltd.