Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

There's certainly no disputing that...

I am wondering why there is a belief that large trees are out of the question for AP. Yes the roots are strong, and I have seen them break through foundations in search of water and nutrients. They, however, would not have to search far in an AP system for those. The real challange would be getting enough root structure for the trees to support themselves. Massive growbeds could be made out if concrete, filled with gravel, and set up on a flood and drain system. You would want to time their cycles though as it would require a massive sump. More importantly, AP would drastically reduce agricultural runoff, probibly one of the worst offenders in depleting our oceans of food.

Regular fruit trees should be fairly easy. Especially in backyard systems that are only looking to sustain an average family's needs. I can think of a few ideas off the top of my head to stabilize the trees while allowing them to grow. The trick is getting the masses to do it since economically it is not feasible.

hey guy's..

I spent a few months driving around America..

It was fun and it was an eye opener..
for one thing I stopped at a place Called MONA lake..
Which due to the city of LA needing water they decided to capture the water that would of run into the lake and divert that water down thru a series of OPEN Channels all the way to LA..

Juergen

Yea, something like 80% water loss during transport. Thats the way to have a large city in what is mostly a desert! There is a long way to go to get socal enviromentally conscious.

I think if they worked on the problem of Water Lose that they would not need to take so much water from far area, just to supply a city..

Better still Pipe the water..

Juergen

I'm not quite sure why Central Valley California is such an issue. I live here in the Central Valley, and the reason we have droughts is the lack of water collection. So from what I understand California loses a LOT of water because it runs off back into the Ocean. What we need is LARGER dams, and more reservoirs for water holding. 50 years ago this wasn't so much an issue because the population was significantly lower, since the population is increasing of course the demand on water would increase (it would seem the population is stagnant if not decreasing anymore). California's water issues is a lack of foresight by the government, we use to be the 5th largest food producer in the world, now we are 9th (why?). I think all that FISH BS is just a blame game, the reason we run out of water is because of a lack of storage. The issue is California's water ways empty back into the ocean, what if they build a reservoir near the ocean return locations? Obviously the water would have to return to the Ocean, but that doesn't mean the state couldn't collect it into a lake and then damn it up and control how much leaves. But the environmentalist are blocking it every step of the way, I remember when Terminator was governor and he signed like a 11 billion dollar bill and it was supposed to "fix" this issue, but portion of that 11 billion was to go to environmental impact studies. I understand the need for them, but these things can take years to complete, oh well, that'll never happen.

I live about 10 minutes from the Kaweah Lake, and last year it was SO FULL they had to release the water so it wouldn't start over flowing. I wonder if that is considered wasting water?

Good point Mark.

I am about 15 minutes away from Millerton Lake. That water is specifically for crop irrigation. They want to restore the San Joaquin River but then no one will have water for crops.
The water we save, saves our crops and farmers. They may not be organic or aquaponic, but they do feed a lot of people!

Todd

Look the biggest issue in any form or irrigation is transportation of that water from the collection site to the end user..

when most of the water is transported via open channels you Lose a Lot of the water via evaporation..
if those same channels are dirt and not concrete you will lose x% via soil absorption..
the question is Why can't the water be either piped or in covered Lined channels.. Reduce the evaporation to a minimal figure..

From the main channels it is all Piped to where it is needed..

Currently in Australia there is a HUGE shit fight about the irrigation water from our Largest river system..
- At least 40-50% of the water that is designated for irrigation is Lost to either evaporation, Faulty/leaky system's..
- You also have people who have huge water rights that have Water sitting in huge dams that just evaporates while it sits there..[Stupid]..

Look I'm not against irrigation.. I just want to see a better way of using the water..



--> Fruit tree's..
A while ago[Many years ago Landline] I watched a show about the rotational cycle of Watering apple tree's.. they have a system that allowed them to water the apple trees in segment's..[Left or Right or both]
They installed sensor probes to see how wet the roots were and only watered the segments of the roots that needed water..
--Not Via Sprayers but via drip irrigation..
the water got to where it was needed and their wastage was reduced hugely..


Look We as a water user need to get smart on how we deal with water..


Question for the American's..
How many house in your Area Harvest Water to use in the Garden..??

I'll say from my drive around the states..
NOT MANY.. in fact I noticed that for a house to have any form of gutters was very unusual..
A lot of the water went onto the ground but was not collected..
- Maybe it is because Most of the house are roofed with Tar paper or something similar..

IF a Lot of that rain water was harvested and allowed to go to waste how would area like CA be..

We actually had someone point to a group up in Oregon[Purple People..??] who are slowly educating the local people..


Juergen

Well snowt
You saw a lot off law obidient people on your tour, collecting water is a legal isue in the US
http://www.naturalnews.com/029286_rainw ... water.html

cheers

Yeah, the water rights are really messed up. They are totally different in the Western US when compared to the Midwest and Eastern US. In spite of this there are people who collect water and you can buy barrels equiped for this at local stores and some recyclers.

The use of asphalt shingles could be part of the problem. It's more expensive to buy metal roofing than shingles. Existing neighborhoods have mostly asphalt shingles so people go with what they already have. I would feel much safer using water that came off a metal roof (and I think others would as well).

Houses have gutters most of the places I've lived in the US.

I hate the rules in the US.. especially after reading that a little as 3% of the rain that falls makes it to the River's, creeks and such..

Let the people use the captured Water.. I know I do at home..

My 6000lt tank is used to keep the garden watered.. and do some pH correction..

Juergen

The house i live in is the only one on my street with gutters. It only rains here a few days of the year ( worth mentioning) gutters just fill up with leaves and tar from the roofs. You mostly see just a metal strip of some sort over the door/walk way to keep the run off from damaging the concrete.

I wouldn't drink, nor use water collected off my tar roof in a garden. But i will be replacing my patio cover with a water collection roof.

I lived in Oregon and it rained all the time, everyone had gutters, and fixed them when clogged or leaked. Other wise your foundation, walk ways, and plants get trashed.

California has made some progressive changes in regards to gray water, rain water capture and solar panels.
Gray water from bathroom sinks, showers, tubs, and washing machines can now be diverted to water your landscape. There are requirements that it must be similar to drip irrigation- no sprinklers are allowed- no standing water and with washing machines, you must still be attached to the sewer, septic system so you can toggle the direction that the water goes. This is so if you are washing, say dirty diapers, that you are not sending that water to the grass your children play on. This is huge as California use to treat all used water as contaminated.
Rain water capture is also allowed but it seldom rains much in So. California. I would not advise drinking it unless purified, not only because of the roof material but the air is poor quality as well but still good for landscape use.
Solar panels have really gotten a good jump start- California state law mandates that building code fees are a flat rate of $300 for roof mounted solar systems. They are really trying to get more renewable energy.

In San Diego, you can hook up the outlet of your washing machine to a garden variety sprinkler. It was decided in some sort of emergency meeting.