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  • From: venaurafarm <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] pc aquaponics
  • Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:15:25 -0400


A very good reason for a home food producer to add aquaponics or hydroponics to his production system is drought and water restrictions. Catching most rainfall in barrels off the roof and in on-the-ground catchments would help ensure enough irrigation water for small garden beds and for hydroponics. Both would be better than just one of the two
even if the soil-based production is in containers.

In undeveloped nations with low income populations needing produce food locally in small gardens, water may well be a very big issue, especially when they rarely have rain and have access to drinking/cooking/limited washing water only with none or very little left over for gardens. A two part integrated system consisting of hydro-aqua + garden beds would, could make a critical difference in their supply of food.

I have a question about the comparison of nutrient/mineral/trace mineral/microbiology needs of plants and availability of those in
either soil production and aquapo/hydropo systems.

Since you have a huge nutrient bank in well prepared garden soil and with mulch and high OM all you need is a little water, how to you replicate this in a hydropo/aquapo system. How do you produce food that is equally nutritious using both production systems and how does one on a budget do that? I am sure there is a way and there are probably easy answers. A person needs to be a backyard garden/hydropo experimenter.
The fish/aquaponics option is a whole other order of magnitude as I see it, requiring a lot of risky investment is you are planning on generating a profit.

BTW there is a great mailing list/Google Group group called the Bio Sand Filter Group.
Biosand Filter Production
This group is maintained by CAWST (Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology) to provide udates, generate feedback and discussion around scale-up options for the production of Biosand Filters.
For more information visit CAWST's website, http://www.cawst.org/,
and learn about our training, http://www.cawst.org/en/what-we-do/training-programs, and services, http://www.cawst.org/en/what-we-do, as well as education material for download, http://www.cawst.org/en/resources/pubs.

These people work to develop water purification filters for people in countries with water quality problems. I will bet they
would know a lot about filtering and purifying aquapo/hydropo system water.

This is an organization I found reference to in their archives:
Quinn
Project Leogane - Leogane, Haiti
All Hands Volunteers
www.hands.org

You might enjoy this post in their archives from 2011. Seems to involve
a machine for separating aggregate components according to size, i.e. gravel from fine sand, etc.

Biosand Filter Production ›
CAWST Sand Sorter - Part 1 of 5
1 post by 1 author in Biosand Filter Production
[Email updates to me] [Collapse all]
Derek Baker
More message actions
9/18/11
Hi everyone,

We have just completed the fabrication plans for the CAWST Sand Sorter!

This design is similar to the Beta model but includes all the changes that we felt would make it easier to construct and operate the sand sorter in a developing country based on what we learned in Zambia and India. The design has been built and tested in Canada. It is simple and robust. It requires fewer sizes of steel to buy and the components should be available in most large centers anywhere. Steve Begg, a designer and fabricator in Canada, did the design starting with the original sand sorter developed by Ron Ryde. We are grateful to both these individuals.

There are several files (described below) that provide all the information necessary as well as pictures and drawings to communicate the design. The Google group limit for posting size is 4 MB which is too small for all the files (the fabrication plans are 6 MB). In order to remain within the size limitations I am sending this information out in two ways. The first is through a free download service which you can access to get all the files at once by clicking on this link: http://ge.tt/8uZcDt7?c . The files will be available through this link for 90 days. I am also sending the files in 5 separate postings through this bsf-production Google group so that they will be accessible to you indefinitely. The 5 postings will have the following files attached to them:

CAWST Sand Sorter - Part 1
Sand Sorter operation - a drawing showing the sand sorter and operator and the stationary feed hopper and discharge chute. Small platforms provide the proper elevations for operation
V1-view from side - a picture from the side of a completed sand sorter. The three screen levels have been spread further apart to give the operator more access to all three screens
V1-view from above - a picture of a completed sand sorter looking down at the top of the sand sorter. This shows the entire upper screen is accessible by the operator

CAWST Sand Sorter - Part 2
V1-Plans pages 1-20 - this file includes pages 1 - 20 of the fabrication drawings with annotations to help a welder fabricate the machine (the AutoCAD .dwg file is also available if anyone wants it)

CAWST Sand Sorter - Part 3
V1-Plans pages 21-41 - this file includes pages 21 - 41 of the fabrication drawings

CAWST Sand Sorter - Part 4
V1-Plans pages 42-59 - this file includes pages 42 - 59 of the fabrication drawings

CAWST Sand Sorter - Part 5
V1-Mechanical - provides the details of all the mechanical components required. Details are given to help you get exactly what is needed
V1-Machining - provides the details to fabricate the bearing inserts and their attachment to the shaft that should provide all the information that a machine shop needs to fabricate this
V1-Cut-List - provides the dimensions that each steel piece must be cut to. It is often best to do all the steel cutting first; before beginning welding
V1-Material List - provides all the materials (steel, bolts etc.) that need to be purchased to build the sand sorter

By sending this information out I am hopeful that many large biosand filter implementers will consider using this machine to help improve their quality and productivity. I suggest we use this communication channel; bsf-pro...@googlegroups.com as the method of exchanging experiences and developing best practices for all to use free of charge or fear of patent infringement - we only require attribution rights - that CAWST's name be left on the documents. I encourage all implementers to pass along their experience with the sand sorter. Steve Begg, a designer and fabricator in Canada, did the design starting with the original sand sorter developed by Ron Ryde. We are grateful to both these individuals.

I plan to travel to Peru in November to help an organization there build the sand sorter and other bsf facilities as well such as water recycle and bsf factory layout. I intend to send out another Sand Sorter Update to the group after this trip. David Putt, a CAWST volunteer, will travel with me to help with the Spanish and gain experience in teaching others to construct the sand sorter. Hopefully, he'll be able to make more trips to help others if needed.

If anyone wishes any further information or answers to questions, contact me directly at dba...@cawst.org or post your questions/ comments to this bsf-prod group by replying to this posting.

Olivier Mills from CAWST made this challenge on facebook.com/cawst:
What's a biosand filter sand sorter machine?... I'll donate 20 hours to CAWST if someone (non-CAWST staff!) comes up with the right definition in a comment to this post in the next 24hrs.
Glynis Hunt with ACI*replied: The system includes an electrical sand sorting system which separates media into a variety of needed sizes while simultaneously using water to break up and rinse away grains that are too fine along with unwanted organic material and dust. Water for washing is reused via several settling tanks and pumps. Once prepared, the filler is dried, measured, bagged and stored on site before being transported to an entrepreneur in need of more supplies. From what I understand this machine will improve filter consistency and quality, while increasing the number of households the network can serve each month.
*ACI is Aqua Clara International working in Kenya and Nicaragua. They have trained over 35 biosand filter entrepreneurs in Kenya.

Good definition Glynis. Thanks for getting us those extra hours from Olivier!

Derek Baker, CAWST

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You also have artificial wetlands to use for prefiltration of effluent. It is just amazing how crystal clear water hyacinths will make murky water and in such a short time. I have overwintered them in a small freezer with a glass cover and foamboard insulation on top of that during the coldest times; polycarbonate will also work well, even the corrugated roofing panels, doubled up with the channels plugged with foamboard or spray-on foam.

Here's something else to consider to use in your aqua-hydro system
when you need sand or fine gravel: free rock quarry siltation pond fines.
Using this as rooting medium for your plants would ensure a constant supply of minerals to your irrigation water. These materials are typically microscopically fine to aggregates with largest particles
the size of screenings (used in making blacktop, asphalt). Where I am I have access to granite, pyrophyllite and a very hard rock (2nd hardest in NC) pulverized into microscopic particles (thus mare available for use by microbes and plants) that is basalt/volcanic tuff/feldspar, not sure which, must call the quarry and find out. When you feed the beneficial microbes in your system rock dust they thrive and plants will generate a larger root system than in any other rooting medium.

I would like to see a hydroponics system developed and tested that uses rock dusts either alone or mixed with other types and sizes of stone.
Forget the lavarock, that represents a huge carbon footprint as well as generation of air pollution.

LL
On 10/10/2012 4:40 PM, KAKerby@aol.com wrote:
One more note along the lines below: yes there are a variety of small
scale, scalable, low-tech, "starter" systems out there. One of the best is
called Barrelponics, because it relies on using a few 55 gallon barrels for
both the growing containers, the tank and the reservoir. The creator of
that system, a man named Travis Hughey, set up a Yahoo discussion group also
called Barrelponics, to disseminate information about this system, and to
share information amongst small-scale aquaponics practioners in general.
Much of what I've relayed in the last few days, I learned while a member
there. Travis' main job is doing missionary work to bring self-reliant food
production to various areas without such abilities. It has been his work
which has taught me that so many peoples are in desperate need of low-tech,
inexpensive, diversified, scalable food solutions. For whatever combination
of reasons, far too many people don't have the ability to grow their own
food otherwise. He's literally gone around the world setting up these
systems
and teaching folks how to produce their own food, then ensuring they have
enough information and training to keep it going themselves. The work he
does, and the design he uses, is all documented on the
_Barrelponics@YahooGroups.com_ (mailto:Barrelponics@YahooGroups.com) and is
free for download.
If anyone on this list wanted to learn not only how to build a small
system, but also what it's capable of producing, that would be an excellent
place to start.





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