Special Projects
LHO’s & White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery
Constructed in early 1900, White Sulphur Springs NFH was built to take advantage of the natural springs for which the town is named. A truly historic place the town claims to have the oldest golf course in the USA, Oakhurst and the famous Greenbrier Inn. The hatchery raises rainbow trout as well as an on-going research program intended to restore wild freshwater mussel populations in the Ohio River.
LHO stands for Low Head Oxygenation, a patented means of injecting gas (oxygen/ozone) into water. The WaterTek LHO uses no moving parts and requires no electricity to supersaturate oxygen levels in water. LHO’s also lower supersaturated nitrogen in water without increasing the total gas pressure of the liquid!
The hatchery employs serial reuse raceways but the overall design suffers from very little head. In other words, there is little "fall" between the raceways to allow for re-aeration and the same water passes through more than 10 successive raceways. A total of 5 LHO’s were designed and installed in the facility. One LHO, accepts water from a large headbox that is fed by the spring. Four additional LHO’s, installed at the head of the fourth set of raceways supersaturate the water with oxygen.
Oxygen levels become low during the summer when temperatures rise and water flow from the springs drop. Pure oxygen is on site in the form of "dewers"; oxygen vessels 30" in diameter x 5 ft. tall. This system is capable of satisfying the needs of the hatchery every two weeks. An oxygen service refills the vessels when needed. WMT furnished oxygen flow meters housed in Nema 4 enclosures to enable hatchery personnel to regulate oxygen levels in the facility. During periods of the year when the LHO’s are not needed to maintain adequate oxygen levels, the system is turned off and the LHO distribution plates are removed.
WMT manufactures two styles of WaterTek LHO's; the raceway model pictured in this story and the recycle model. The recycle model is designed to stand beside a tank. Recycle models are manufactured in vinylester, an ozone tolerant fiberglass design enables WMT to inject oxygen and ozone into solution.
WMT has over 700 LHO’s installed and operating. For a reference near you please contact WMT.
Find out more reading about our WaterTek LHO’s
