We raise fish in flow-through farms, which means we borrow water from springs and then return it to local rivers.
Our tanks are designed so that solids (aka fish poop) naturally fall out of the water flow and settle on the bottom.
It’s a common farm chore to clean those tanks by vacuuming up the solids (which is what Heather is doing in the pic!). They’re biodigested and then spread on our fields for fertilizer.
Water gets recirculated a few times at the farm using biofilters that naturally purify it before it gets recycled!
When the water leaves the farm, it passes through a long biofiltration channel before it gets to the river. Each channel is filled with plants and critters that eat up stray nutrients.
Despite all this, a small amount of nutrients still reach the river. That’s why we test the outgoing water every month on 8 different parameters. And every year, we do macroinvertebrate studies on the river to make sure there isn’t any negative impacts!
Our eco-certifications like Best Aquaculture Practices give us strict rules on water quality and river health. They even talk to our neighbours downstream during audits too!
The waters of Grey County have supported the Springhills family for two generations. We take our environmental stewardship to heart in every aspect of our farming, and we plan to keep protecting our waters for the next generation and beyond!
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