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Can I make a "fish" biofilter that handles my waste?
🕑 Added 2024-08-07 01:07:51 +0000 UTCProcessing solid waste is pretty much set using composting techniques but urine usually needs to be kept separate. This is what I'm looking into for processing my urine. The idea is that once oxidized to nitrate it can be used as fertilizer the same way as water from a fish tank. I'll make a full video once It's run for a while.
Comments
Morgan Damm
Very interesting, as usually i will follow this! :) Thanx Cody for interesting videos! i learn a lot! Best regards from Sweden :)
Adric Menning
the sprinklering should do a fair bit of oxygenation.
Harold Leverenz
If the chunks of limestone do not dissolve fast enough you could try mixing calcite sand or crushed oyster shell in with the char. Also consider covering the recirc tank to reduce algae growth.
Whisper Mason
Is this the Montey Python sketch where they wanted to see how serioys you were about getting insurance by filling up a 10 gallon bottle?
Whisper Mason
Go easy on the Aspergus ?
CodyDon Reeder
The bucket of stones I added to the bottom of the barrel are limestone.
Reuben Martin
Mabey in an underground sump pit to keep it cool enough
Reuben Martin
Have you considered oysters or other such molluscs in a pond or pot?
Harold Leverenz
The biofilter looks great! The urea in stale urine is converted in a few days by bacterial enzymes (urease) into ammonium bicarbonate (which can be separated by steam distillation). The ammonium in stale urine will not be transformed to nitrate without sufficient oxygen and nitrifying bacteria. The biofilter concept would benefit from the addition of limestone to buffer against the pH change that occurs when the ammonium is nitrified. In this biochar filter the result will likely be a dilute ammonium nitrate solution at pH around 4 to 5, where the nitrifying bacteria become inhibited. The bacteria are temperature sensitive and do not function much below about 10 deg C.
Liam Hodgson
Once it’s urea you can then fill up the “clean diesel” tank on your Jetta
Daniel Crusoe
This seems similar to the plans I have on my motorhome, water filter built in smaller buckets, but just like this, to filter out most of the stuff, (4 buckets) and then into a holding tank, from there, it goes through a distiller to further cleanse the water, and you end up with usable drinking water. I don't intend to process sewage, but, since all my Grey water is planned to be recycled, it may be inevitable, so I shall be watching this with great enthusiasm.
CodyDon Reeder
It would smell absolutely rancid though.
Chris27208
If you fill a 50gallon with pee and leave it for 8 weeks it should break down from urea into nitrate on its own. You can then somewhat pull apart the NPK into crystals with simple chemistry and a silk shirt to filter it. There was a great thread on this on aquaponicshub.org about a decade ago. I think the guy doing it was in Serbia. He had it all figured out though. I can try to find it another day.
Imran Uddin
If it works, I'll have to put one right outside my garage because I'm slowly killing all the grass there. 🤣
CodyDon Reeder
Exactly
Evan Krall
Some "Primitive Technology"-style closed captions explaining what you're doing would be awesome for this video. Is the bit of material taken from the fish filter there to seed a microbial colony or something?
Jedediah Kivi
Idea seems like it'd work. Looking forward to more info once it's produced results.
