Recycling water "Own Means"



The place where my vetiver plants grow  is virtually surrounded 
by farms and farmers that, despite any legislation on  
the disposal of nitrates, dispose of the wastewater simply discharging it in 
holes in the ground, or better in ditches. 
Given that here the irrigation water costs 150€ for 45 days 
by the single hydrant (as a result of an effective 
privatization action conducted in recent years 
in a bipartisan fashion by any government and 
by each regional authority), I have decided to proceed 
as usual with "Own Means" to dispose of some pollution 
that ends up at sea (very close to the land in question) and save 
some money which, these days, for sure, will find better use elsewere.
 
The ditch bottom  retains a good 50 cm of water 
(for a flaw of execution) until at least July, 
I therefore devised a two stages system, able to filter the suspended solids. 
The first stage consists of a gravel filter contained within a 
concrete pipe that sat abandoned for years in the nearby field;
a submerged pump draws the water through the gravel which, this way is kept free of algae and 
mucilages present in industrial quantities, 
thus denouncing the strong presence of nitrates and phosphates. 
The second stage is built with a modified pump pressure aid  with 
two check valves, a couple of fittings, and filled with quartzite to operate 
a more accurate sand filtration of water. 
The chemical quality of water of course does not change, 
the plants take advantage of the nourishment excess 
and the excess of such irrigation is released in the watertable after 
a vertical filtering operated by the plant itself.
A double goal is so achieved: intercept pollution and save money.
Not just a pretty face....

2 commenti:

Marco ha detto...

Someone may argue that you are trying to publicise some kind of activity, industries are not the first cause of pollution though, this is agriculture with the use and misuse of fitopharmaceutical molecules and fertilizers; the runoff of water on slopes drags with it large amounts of sediments that through drainage canals flows to the sea and enters human food chain in a single week.
The speed and the amount of this contamination has no equal. To change the agronomic approach is one of the main tasks of the Vetiver Network.

Anonimo ha detto...

I have wanted to post something like this on my website and this gave me an idea. Cheers..