[permaculture] Plants for nitrate/phosphate uptake

David Buitenveld sarcasticboy at thechicken.coop
Fri Oct 19 12:56:59 EDT 2007


I just love when a question pops up on the list that I have some 
experience with  ;-)

There is a fellow here in the Pac Northwest that has done / is doing 
amazing things with mushrooms - including remediation of a failing 
septic drainfield on his property.. the name is Paul Stamets (I'm sure I 
have seen his name on the list previously) and he is at www.fungi.com.  
I couldn't find what I wanted at the website with a quick perusal, but 
then googled stamets septic and got some good hits including a review of 
his latest book at HopeDance.. my guess is that if you contacted 
fungi.com they could set you up with some interesting solutions..

on another note - this is a topic that I am interested in pursuing in 
the next year or two.. is the monitoring something that a layperson can 
accomplish? Or would you recommend working with a local lab? I would 
love to hear how this works out for you - good luck!

david

roxann wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> We are installing our septic system for our new house. Where I live there is not public sewer system, so that is not an option. We want to put in small ponds downstream from the effluent and I'd like to use plants to clean the water more before it finally will enter the environment. What plants are good to grow in the ponds that will take up nitrates/nitrites/phosphates? I work in a water quality laboratory, so I will be monitoring regularly. Do you know the aquatic plant that takes over bayous in s. louisiana? they've got air pockets in the stems and make a purple flower? i can't remember the name of them. but they make an excellent compost when you pull them from the water (and i don't know why they aren't doing this with them, rather than spraying herbicides and killing in place). i wonder if they also will take up nutrients from the water and then when i compost them they can be utilized for the garden.
>
> are cattails good nutrient uptakers? 
>
> i have the space to put in successive ponds with cascading features to each lower pond, which should help with aeration, too. it will not all be installed at once, since i do not have so much time or money to do it with, but i'd like to put a plan in place so that the eventual goal will be reached by the time the water reaches the end of the line.
>
> thanks for input,
>
> roxann, nw ar
> http://blog.ancientearthwisdom.com
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