Backyard hobbyists, university researchers, nonprofits, restaurants and even inmates at a federal prison in Indiana are growing food using aquaponics, a technology for raising fish and plants together in a recirculating system. So far, though, no one has been able to build a large-scale, commercial aquaponics business.
In an abandoned brewery in St Paul, Minnesota, a startup company called Urban Organics is trying to change that. Since last spring, Urban Organics has been raising tilapia, basil and lettuce, with the help of a much-bigger neighbour – a $7bn industrial company called Pentair that believes that aquaponics is on the verge of becoming a viable form of farming.
The logic behind Pentair’s interest is clear: the company, which is based in Manchester, England, and whose main US offices are in Minneapolis, makes precision irrigation equipment for farmers, as well as energy-efficient pumps, advanced filtration technology and wastewater treatment systems used in many businesses, including aquaculture. Aquaculture generates about $75m in annual revenues for Pentair, aquaponics a much smaller amount.