My new airlift pump

I heard about airlift pumps which utilize compressed air to pump water.

My pump is built using 1/2" water pipe, a plastic funnel and a couple of airstones. Two airlines supply compressed air from an aquarium pump which infuses the water at the base of the pump lessening its density and raising the water to a higher level.

We all like the sound of running water. I think this airlft pump adds to the music with its 1 second pulses. Anyways here is a picture but the video is better. The video can be viewed at How to Grow Food in Your Backyard all Year Round



Eventually I will power the system with solar.

 

In between death defying acts of courage driving my Prius I have continued tinkering with my green house and now aquaponics system.

Here is a recap of my current operation.

I run my aquaponics system using solar power...two harbor freight solar panels (gotta love the Chinese) and a aquaponics system developed by Johnathan Woods.

I run the system using an airlift pump slightly modified to optimize the Venturi effect (I hope) using a 4 watt AC air pump. The system runs 24/7 completely off grid...3 deep cycle batteries in parallel kept charged by two 45 watt solar panels.

The aquaponics table is of the Johnathan Woods design...very, very simple from his Urban Aquaponics Manual.http://http://www.redbayfarm.com/jts_aquaponics.html Look over to the right column on the webpage for a link to the manual.

Right now I have tomatoes, all sorts of flowers, bush beans, cucumbers, onions, lettuce etc etc sprouting in the 8'X4' tray.

My system is housed in my 12'X16 ft greenhouse designed by NC State. My Greenhouse is the one in the picture...but I've moved it since this picture was taken. The green house design is highly modified now. I elevated the 2"X6" board base by bolting it onto posts. I elevated it approximately 6". This summer I will open both ends of this hoop greenhouse for ventilation and apply a shade cloth for cooling.

To set up a back yard food production system like the one described above plan to spend about $1000...unless of course if you scavenge. Don't scrimp on things like greenhouse plastic...builders plastic will deteriorate after about a year whereas greenhouse plastic will last up to 4 years.

Fish....right now I have a school of about 25 goldfish...feeders. I started with 30 but 5 have morted out. Each day I take about 10 gallons of water out of my 50 gallon barrel and water my lemon and kumquat trees with the nutrient rich water (gold fish are very dirty...a good thing in aquaponics).

The PH of the water is just under 7.0 which is very good. Not bad for a swamp water operation. This weekend I plan to take my cast net over to my neighbor's pond to get some bluegill and maybe a catfish.