“There is no doubt that the operation of the aerator pump installed by Millewa Pumping prevented multiple fish death events in a short, but critically important section of the Darling River .”

On behalf of DPI NSW Fisheries, I wish to thank Millewa pumping for their assistance in preventing escalation of fish death events that occurred in the Darling River near Menindee over summer of 2018-19. The fish deaths in nearby stretches of the Darling occurred due to hypoxia (loss of dissolved oxygen which is required by fish), linked sudden weather-driven mixing of stratified water-bodies.

On our request, Millewa pumping installed a pump system to aerate and disperse water of higher oxygen concentration through a section of key native fish habitat in the Darling River (from late January to late March, 2019). Analysis of water quality data collected through Summer and Autumn of 2019 demonstrated that the pump system you installed prevented fish deaths in the section of river. “

Iain Ellis Fisheries Manager
NSW DPI Fisheries and Professor Darren Baldwin, Charles Sturt University