Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

With modifications to the design, such as using the airstone below the pump to provide aeration, I think our design is also patentable. The inventor was more interested in moving poo. We want to move water and aerate it.

Hang on - I'm just trying to get the gunk off the bottom of my entombed tanks - all the rest are bonuses (including the sprinklers)

OK, you move gunk, I will move and aerate water.

I can't remember who, but someone talked about capturing bubbles from a venturi aereator and letting them power the geyser. It wouldn't geyser very often, but, could be used to move the poo, and no additional cost!

In a round tank, use Michael F's "spin the sludge" method to get all the sludge into the bottom center, put a crenelated cone in the bottom for your uptake, use a larger cone separated by 5-10cm to capture the bubbles from your angled venturi, and every so often, splash! you get the geyser to pop out a present of poo-laden water! EKB is happy to get rid of his sludge, Janet gets aereated water to lift some water, and someone else (my mind is failing me) gets to used use leftover bubbles from the venturi to do the pumping! Everybody's happy, and EKB gets to do more experiments!

-Doug

poo, movements, bubbling (aerated) water ....

starting to sound like a kids bath-time....

must be on the wrong forum lol

Hey its all just added food for those plants. Maybe someone should make up a calculation as to how many liters of growbed medium would be needed to support an average human We could start making these systems fully recylable!!!

I think the menfolk here just like to pee in their tanks. Around we go.

A 150 pound (68kg) person needs 600 gal (2280 liters) of growbed, assuming waste generation similar to fish. But no thanks. How about I just use a composting toilet and spread the humanure around my shrubbery periodically?

But to the point of the thread, I just bought some nice PVC in 3 inch (75mm) and 3/4 inch (18mm) internal diameters. I have some that is 1.5 inch (40mm). I couldn't find endcaps at 4 inches (100mm), so I downsized my original plans. I'm going to start with air volume of the outer bell approximately equivalent to the volume of water in the riser from the lower cut opening to the water surface. Now if only the air pump would arrive.

Back to the question on how high will it go, I suppose there is a formula for it - something like 40% height to 60% of tubing underwater (or 30/70),
it would then be interesting to see if it can then be lifted higher by adapting the spiral design (something like a corkscrew), using it on an incline.

Step 5 - add bits on
Step 1 - get it working correctly
Step 4 - RESERVED
Step 2 - get a bigger air supply
Step 3 - get it cleaning the sludge out
e) RESERVED for Monya

I like the idea of reducing the diameter of the riser at the water's surface to get it to go higher.

I need my air pump. I need my air pump. I need my air pump. I need my air pump. I need my air pump.

hey Janet, do you need an air pump?

Janet, a larger bubble of air can lift the water higher...just what you want.

I have searched to no end for those videos of the geyser pump working. NADA

The inventor is Sammo Kondo, who is Asian, but resides in the US.


Oh and sorry, I should have quoted, I was talking to El about his geyser.

I don't understand the attraction of the geyser approach over using some kind of venturi inductor scheme. Compressed air is very inefficient for moving energy (energy stored in compressed air increases with the log of the pressure, but the work required increases linearly with pressure; due to the heating of the air), and what sorts of things are you pumping that a simple centrifugal impeller pump or venturi wouldn't handle?

A friend showed me how to make an inductor using $1 in parts (hint, start with a T and look for a really low cost polyethylene nozzle... the sort you can get for free at a paint shop), and it moves a lot of water when driven by a tap. The water used could be your make up water allowing for an electricity free system.

Sorry njh, not following you, can you draw a diagram