It’s always great when a university takes on a project to determine whether a new technology is a viable alternative to traditional, less efficient methods.
That is exactly what the Challenger Institute has done with hydroponics and aquaponics. Using its aquaponics and hydroponics systems, it is able to produce 15,000 heads of lettuce and 600kg of Barramundi fish each year.
The hydroponics gardening method is based on the technology of fish being grown in an aquarium that is linked to a hydroponics garden growing lettuce. Fish excrement is pumped onto the lettuce, fertilising it, and the various plant waste is a food source for the fish.
This eliminates the need for fertilisers, and the use of a hydroponics system eliminates the nuisance of weeds and the requirement for herbicides.
The only additional energy that is required for this system is the heating of the water, which is required to grow Barramundi, a fish found in tropical waters, in the colder climate where the Challenger Institute is based.
Future projects will examine growing cold-water fish, removing even this additional cost.
