At Wednesday, October 13, 2010, the first fish-friendly pump of Nijhuis Pompen BV and FishFlow Innovation has been installed in the Mijndense Sluis (the Netherlands), on behalf of water authority Waternet. When in operation, this pump will allow 100% of the eels and at least 97% of the scale fish to pass through it unharmed. These results were obtained earlier this year during a practical test held under the supervision of an independent agency, VisAdvies BV.

Pentair Nijhuis developed this fish-friendly pump in collaboration with FishFlow Innovations and it has, despite the necessary fish-friendly alterations, a minimum efficiency of 80%. What is particularly special about this pump is the shape of the impeller, which creates a favourable flow in the water that allows the fish to get through the pump safely, in spite of the relatively high rotational speed. Furthermore, there is more space between the impeller blades than with conventional pumps, which considerably reduces the chance of the fish and eels being hit.

All in all, this was sufficient reason for Waternet to work together with Pentair Nijhuis and FishFlow Innovations to replace the current pump in the Mijndense Sluis by a fish-friendly one.