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Re: [APD] Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 28, Issue 56
Sean,
Most water bodies do not have lots of weeds growing in them and are not shallow(2 meters or less). If you add N and P to a shallow subtropical lake with lots of submersed plants, you get more weeds, not algae.
If you do not have plants, then you will get algae.
I live where it's fairly warm, CA, in FL and most of the SE USA, weeds are real issue.
They get into water irrigation systems, drinking water supplies, and chokes everything.
So adding N and P even if there are plants is still a bad idea.
But the plants we grow are not weeds, except some like duckweed, bladderwort, some algae, Riccia and a few others that get out of hand.
This is true both with and without high light and CO2.
Most Limnology and environmental programs dealing with eutrophication often exclude submersed plants from the equation as they are often not present.
But, many wastewater treatment programs and environmental Egneering and wetland ecology programs do use plants to remove NO3 through denitrification(NO3=> N2 gas) and P sequestration.
Wetland plants are very good at that, the issue is more their growth rates in northern areas to see if they are suitable for use.
One of the better means of mitagting N and P into natural waters is to provide buffer riparian zones of 100-400 yards around all streams and rivers adjacent to farmland, this prevents flooding, provides habitat for many animals and removes a large portion of N and P from the water.
The Mississipii River is a very good cadidate for this, one study estimated we could reduce the N and P by at least 40% entering the Gulf of Mexico.
That's large scale and a pretty good reduction and that does not include many areas along the river.
We can also do something similar with our swimming pools and have a small wetland(who swims in the winter?) to treat the water instaed of chlorine etc. I've seen 2 such systems, they are awesome and a nice wetland pool looks much better and is cheaper than a pool filter. Other small scale applications exist for farms, homes etc.
Our tanks are smaller scale versions. The Dutch's tap water was/is high in both N and P, all they needed to add was some K and traces and do regular water changes for good plant growth, so in effect, they used aquatic plants to remove nutrients from their water.
Spreading the nutrient rich water on yard plants is a good idea, they will remove it or the bacteria will denitrify in many cases. Just make sure them weeds do not get loose in the streams and lakes.
Regards,
Tom Barr
www.BarrReport.com
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Today's Topics:
1. ALA Chairman invades PA (Kurt Johnston)
2. Re: Dosing and public water (S. Hieber)
3. Re: Dosing and public water (Jerry Baker)
4. recycling water (Patricia Kimerling)
5. Re: Dosing in Public Water (Bill D)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 10:47:13 -0500
From: "Kurt Johnston"
Subject: [APD] ALA Chairman invades PA
To: "Aquatic Plants Digest Group"
I hope that subject got everybody's attention.
I just wanted let everyone in this group know that those of us in Lancaster,
PA are fortunate enough to have Rit Forcier, Chairman of the ALA (American
Livebearers Assoc.), coming to our Club to speak on Tuesday January 17th. I
also have heard that Tom Crane, ALA SMP Chairman, may be coming with him!
This is a real coup for us! I hope that anyone who is in the area will
consider joining us that evening for a great program on livebearers. If you
have never seen Rit's program, it is well worth the time and travel. If you
would like more details and directions please contact me either via email or
my phone. Hope to see you there!
Kurt Johnston
kaj41354 at suscom_net
Program V.P.
Aquarium Club of Lancaster County
717-965-7763
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 07:53:05 -0800 (PST)
From: "S. Hieber"
Subject: Re: [APD] Dosing and public water
To: aquatic plants digest
You would want a pump that could sustain about 30 -60 psi. Most aquarium pumps only sustain a few psi -- they're designed for volume rather than pressure.
Also, by using an electric pump to drain a tank instead of a venturi faucet pump like a Python, one conserves the tremendous amount of water required to operate the venturi.
As for bathing. Add up all the soaps, detergent, shampoo etc. that you've bought in the last year. Virtually all of it went down the drain. It's easier (on everyone) if one is conservative about the amount of "soaps" one uses rather than the frequency of baths ;-) Does that load of laundry really need a whole cup of detergent? Does your hair need to be lathered rinsed and repeated? Almost always the answer is no, half will do a better job and leave less residue after rinsing.
sh
----- Original Message ----
From: Jerry Baker
To: aquatic plants digest
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2005 10:38:28 AM
Subject: Re: [APD] Dosing and public water
S. Hieber wrote:
> Yes but the average household dumps many many times more ounces of soap, detergent, etc. every day. If one wants to ease the burden on the sewer plant and the local water bodies, one can consider trimming down in those areas.
Yep. I do my part by not showering ;)
> Watering the lawn is a great way to get secondary use form the water before it returns to the environment.
Earth and plants make a great filter of their own accord. I have often
wondered how much of a pump it would take to provide enough pressure to
drive a sprinkler with the drained aquarium water. It would be even more
effective if I could spread it out over a large area.
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 08:02:56 -0800
From: Jerry Baker
Subject: Re: [APD] Dosing and public water
To: aquatic plants digest
S. Hieber wrote:
> You would want a pump that could sustain about 30 -60 psi. Most aquarium pumps only sustain a few psi -- they're designed for volume rather than pressure.
Those cost over $100. I had thought about pumping it up into the attic
and letting gravity do all the work, but I don't know if I'm that ambitious.
> Also, by using an electric pump to drain a tank instead of a venturi faucet pump like a Python, one conserves the tremendous amount of water required to operate the venturi.
I always use a siphon to drain. Unless you are in the basement, I see no
reason not to.
> As for bathing. Add up all the soaps, detergent, shampoo etc. that you've bought in the last year. Virtually all of it went down the drain. It's easier (on everyone) if one is conservative about the amount of "soaps" one uses rather than the frequency of baths ;-) Does that load of laundry really need a whole cup of detergent? Does your hair need to be lathered rinsed and repeated? Almost always the answer is no, half will do a better job and leave less residue after rinsing.
Ya. My current bottle of shampoo is about to give out after two years (I
have a shaved head). Bar soap lasts about two months per bar. I do like
to use peppermint castile soap from Trader Joe's (a local, unique store)
though. For laundry, I have noticed that very small amounts of detergent
actually work fine. I think a lot of people mistake a strong smell of
detergent for cleanliness. Try seeing how little you can use and still
have clean clothes. I find that I can go as low as about 1/4 cup on
small loads.
--
Jerry Baker
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 10:31:00 -0600
From: "Patricia Kimerling"
Subject: [APD] recycling water
To:
I siphon my water into 35 gal garbage can and then use it to water my
houseplants. Home made fish emulsion fertilizer. The African violets and
orchids love it.
Patricia
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 11:43:16 -0500
From: "Bill D"
Subject: Re: [APD] Dosing in Public Water
To:
Sean asked,
<< If the solution to the problem of algae is to adjust the water so
<< that there is an overabundance of fertilizer, then why are we
encouraged not
<< to allow fertilizer to get into lakes and streams?
An overabundance of fertilizer, particularly NO3 and PO4, will not cause
algae
only in the special case of well-maintained, planted aquaria. It does cause
algae in other
environments, including less-than-well-maintained aquaria and natural
waters. I
don't think there is any scientific doubt about this.
Bill
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