OriginOil Launches Aquaculture Showcase in California’s Coachella Valley

OriginOil’s Electro Water Separation (EWS) technology provides a dual solution to water and feed challenges at fish farms worldwide

Los Angeles and Thermal, CA – Dec. 18, 2013 – OriginOil Inc. (OTC/BB: OOIL), the developer of Electro Water Separation™ (EWS), the high-speed, chemical-free process to clean up large quantities of water, today inaugurated its Permanent Technology Showcase with a demonstration of its EWS Aqua Q60™ and EWS Algae A60™ models at Aqua Farming Tech, a sustainable fish farm in Thermal, Calif., located in California’s Coachella Valley.

To celebrate the launch of the showcase, OriginOil will hold a ribbon-cutting event featuring remarks by state Assemblymember V. Manuel Perez; Mayor Eduardo Garcia of Coachella, California; Kevin Kelley, general manager of the Imperial Irrigation District; and Dr. Thomas Ulrich, an OriginOil advisor and former group leader and principal scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s  Idaho National Laboratory. Riggs Eckelberry and Nicholas Eckelberry, OriginOil’s co-founder and inventor, will also deliver remarks.

“Worldwide, more fish is now being farmed than beef,” said Riggs Eckelberry, president and CEO of OriginOil. “While this is good news, the aquaculture industry will have to address the environmental and operational problems it faces if it is to continue to grow, including the fact that fish is often farmed under toxic conditions. Our Coachella Valley showcase is intended to serve as a living demonstration of the feasibility of clean, sustainable aquaculture.”

The showcase will start at 10 a.m. on Dec. 18 at Aqua Farming Tech, located at 89635 Avenue 81 in Thermal, Calif. Remarks will be followed by the technology demonstration and a lunch. Representatives of the aquaculture industry are invited to visit the permanent showcase at Aqua Farming Tech. For information on visiting the showcase in the future, please contact sales@originoil.com.

OriginOil’s commercial fish farming pond water treatment system can rapidly remove ammonia, bacteria and other aquatic invaders from pond water. And farmers who want a healthier and less-expensive alternative to fish meal can use OriginOil’s algae harvesting system to produce nutritious fish feed. Together, the OriginOil Aquaculture System can help spur the growth of sustainable fish farming on a global scale by reducing costs, eliminating the need for chemical treatment and improving the quality of the product.

Aquaculture is a huge and fast-growing industry. The $100 billion industry is expected to increase by 33 percent between 2012 and 2022, compared to an increase of only 3 percent in capture fisheries, according to the United Nations (The State of World Fisheries, P. 206). But the growth is leading to operational and environmental problems, including the high costs of energy and fish feed, which have forced many fish farms in the Coachella Valley to close.

EWS works by recirculating water through a low-voltage electrical pulsing system that causes contaminants or algae to coagulate, or clump together. The clumped-up material then enters a second stage in which low-power electrical pulses generate a cloud of micro-bubbles that gently lift the concentrate to the surface for harvesting.

The EWS Aqua Q60 commercial fish farming pond water treatment system can service 50,000 liters daily while consuming less than 20 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day (about $2.40 worth). The system is designed to reduce fish stress and improve yields, while sharply reducing or eliminating the need for chemicals and antibiotics.

The EWS Algae A60 is a mid-scale harvester that can process up to 60 liters (16 gallons) per minute of algae water. Individual EWS Algae A60 units can be assigned to manage a pond or bioreactor assembly of up to 500,000 liters. Units can be combined to achieve massive parallel processing capability. The unit removes 99 percent of the water to produce an algae  concentrate. Algae-based fish feed costs up to 60 to 70 percent less than traditional fish feed.

For more information on OriginOil, please visit www.originoil.com.