team photo

Figure 1
project photo

Figure 2
project photo


Team 1

Team Members

Faculty Advisor

Kevin Miller
Patrick McKenzie
Jacob Crow
Carter Correia
Michael Fenton (not pictured)

Dr. Wagstrom and Dr. Safran

Sponsor

Bigelow Brook Farm (USDA Small Farms Innovation Project)

sponsored by
Sponsor Image Not Available

Aquaponics Fish Waste Dewatering Device

Aquaponics is a food production system that exploits the mutually beneficial relationship between fish and plants to naturally enhance the growth of both. The foundation of aquaponics is that fish secrete waste into water which is toxic to the fish but contains valuable nutrients that promote plant growth. Thus, in an aquaponic system water moves from fish tanks to plant beds where the plants use the nutrients and clean the water. The clean water is then returned to the fish. This recycling of water and positive usage of fish waste are the primary reasons why these systems have become popular. However, many systems still have excess of solid fish waste, which is where our project comes in. Currently small aquaponics farms produce a sludge byproduct that has little use, so the goal of our project is to separate the sludge so that the solids can be applied as fertilizer and the water can be returned to the system. To do this we propose a device that features gear driven rotation to create a centrifugal force which will drive water through a filter to trap the solids. We strove to make this device easy to use for all farmers, be easily portable due to lack of space in most greenhouses, consume no electricity, and be as cost effective as possible.