Food & Water: Why Aquaponics for Nevada. Meg Stout Chairman The Aquaponics Association

Transcription

1 Food & Water: Why Aquaponics for Nevada Meg Stout Chairman The Aquaponics Association

2 Fresh Water: Where it Goes Save Water but what is the greatest user of water? Washing hotel sheets Washing hands Flushing toilets Washing clothes Watering lawns Agriculture for one day 20 gallons 1 gallon 3 gallons 40 gallons 40 gallons 2000 gallons

3 2000 Gallons?!?!? The Average American consumes products that require 2000 gallons of fresh water to grow/produce China and Chile get by with ~600 gallons ISO 14046:2014 sets international standard for calculating water use: Blue water: irrigation Green water: ground moisture from precipitation Grey water: water required to dilute pollutants (fertilizer)

4 But water is free, right? Climate shifts predicted to alter precipitation patterns Aquifers store water In healthy aquifers, the water table remains level In depleted aquifer, water table drops Wells run dry Well water is full of minerals Agricultural ground becomes unproductive due to lack of water, accumulation of salts A drained aquifer takes centuries to refill

5 Many US Aquifers are in a state of unsustainable depletion

6 Why Haven t I Heard About This? Water footprint concept arose in 2005, requires satellite data The publications have been in metric Businesses don t benefit from publicizing water use 1 bottle of cola requires 333 bottles of water: 50% for vanilla flavoring 30% for caffeine 15% for sugar

7 Reducing Water Used For Food Customer/Restaurant Action De-emphasize meat Feature sustainable protein (e.g., fish, chicken) Feature fresh vegetables and fruits Grower Action Minimize evaporation (water roots, protect plants) Minimize leachate (hydroponics, aquaponics) Maximize plants per area (hydroponics, aquaponics)

8 Why Aquaponics? Nutrients are contained no fertilizer leaches into soil Water is recycled no need to dump water Crops grow faster at proper water temperature Crops can be planted at optimal density

9 What Plants Need - SWANS Sun Water Air Nutrients Support

10 Fish Selection Fish that are legal check your local laws Fresh water fish Fish you can feed Fish that fit the temperature range of your plants Tilapia need warm water Trout need cool water Bluegill, Goldfish and Koi can withstand a wide range of temperatures All fish enjoy water with lots of oxygen

11 UVI Aquaponics Farm Floating Raft Proven effective 20% more productive than techniques where roots aren t submerged in water Choice of most commercial farms Easier to clean than media Easier to harvest that vertical towers

12 Videos and Manuals September 2011 blog posts at 365 Aquaponics show build for stock tank system The IBC of Aquaponics manual is a free pdf download with details on dozens of IBC systems Travis Hughey s Barrelponics manual give instructions for building a small system from 55-gallon barrels SRAC 454 gives information on the UVI aquaponics system, including feeding rates and analysis of crop values

13 Protection and Rain Collection A simple hoop house structure serves multiple uses Supports polyfilm during cold weather to retain sun-warmed air near plants Supports shade cloth in hot weather to shield crops Supports polyfilm during rainy weather to allow rain collection Supports netting to keep out birds and animals More elaborate greenhouse structures can also be beneficial Larger volumes are easier to keep warm in winter Ridge vents help release hot air in summer

14 Greenhouse Types EMT hoophouse Geodesic dome/shed Vented Roofs ( Formal greenhouse at Guelph

15 Aquaponics - Generations Designs can be classified into several generations: 0 th Generation: No pump, e.g. wicking bed 1 st Generation: Pump in Fish Tank 2 nd Generation: Pump in Sump Tank 3 rd Generation: Filtering out solids 4 th Generation: Mineralizing solids 5 th Generation: Decoupled Aquaponics

16 Barriers to Adoption Relatively high initial infrastructure cost Electricity required for pumps (air, water) Scammers abound (aqua-shysters) Basics not understood: Need to remove solids Size required for economic sustainability (~3 acres) Requires knowledge of plants, fish, and business

17 Thank You Slides Available later today at: aquaponicsassociation.org