This page is dedicated to documenting our project updates throughout the quarter.
June 11, 2019
We have finalized our project and have completed our peer reviews and reflection assignments to look back on our success over the year (our presentation and my reflections are in "Team Documents"). I am really proud of our success this quarter. We were able to accomplish a lot from producing a working filter after many iterations and troubleshooting a lot of different issues we ran into. For example, we had to fix the water flow out of the deep water culture bed because the PVC was not kept upright. The flow into the deep water culture was also cut off for no reason and Jasmine and I were able to fix that and the various flows into the other IBC's. We are all very proud of our education materials as well and are looking forward to potentially receiving feedback regarding how we can make them better. I really enjoyed working with my group and reflected upon my developed skills and lessons I learned throughout the quarter.
June 4, 2019
This week Jazmine and I moved the lava rock into the IBC and added the necessary PVC tubing for the draining system. Keala and Lindsay worked on pamphlets for adults / teachers as well as one for middle school students. To make the system more interactive, they also created word searches and little games! The filter prototype with the plastic mesh did not work as the holes were too small so Jazmine finalized a new filter design and implemented it this week and it seems to work.
Our final presentation is tomorrow and we are working on our final paper as well (due Friday). Overall, I am proud of the team's success this quarter!
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Moving the rock into the IBC
One page of the pamphlet
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Activities made for the middle school students!
May 28, 2019
We successfully moved a lot of rock from Hester Garden to Middlebrook Garden. Due to time constraints, we were not able to move the rock into the IBC but will be finishing that this week.
We are finalizing a filter design and working on our two brochures! We're definitely getting close to wrapping up our project. We each have also outlined our portions of the final report and will be working on that this week.
May 21, 2019
This week we accomplished a lot but still have quite a few things on the to do list. After receiving feedback on our presentation, we decided we need to make two brochures: one geared more toward students and another more toward adults and teachers.
We have officially decided to just move the rock which will happen today (Tuesday May 21). With a prototype I made, we will determine if we should use a different material or different design. This week is for implementing designs and maybe making a new iteration. The prototype is seen in the "Personal Updates" page!
May 14, 2019
For this week's class, we are presenting to our classmates, instructors and community partners. We have put together a powerpoint in our "Team Documents" section!
This week, our focus was to find a material to use for the filter. We found a plastic mesh with 2mm x 2mm squares (right) at a craft store we are hoping will work in combination with industrial strength velcro. I created some schematics of our design in "Personal Weekly Updates." We are still working on finding what to use for the media in IBC 1. The issue we are running into is moving lava rock from Hester Garden to Middlebrook Gardens in order to cut out the expense of buying 40+ pounds of media. We would have to spend $80 - $200 on new media and decided that was not feasible. There are some logistical issues with getting into Hester Garden as there is only one key for the gate and coordinating a time to meet has proven difficult.
Jazmine also conducted Nitrate/Nitrite tests with the following results:
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Pond Input: approximately 0.5 ppm
Media Bed Input: between 0.5-2.0 ppm
Nitrate levels must be less than 5 ppm, and are ideally between 0.5 and 1 ppm. As such, we concluded that there is no need to address nitrate or nitrite levels throughout the system.
Current Materials:
In order to correctly dimension the filter, dimensions were taken of the pump which are labeled below.
Figures 1 and 2: Dimensioned photos of the pump to help with prototyping our filter.
May 7, 2019
The team met to discuss a finalized set of things we want to fix with Dr. JAK. We are on the right track, so it seems, with some additional research to conduct. Lindsay and I worked on finding a better alternative to the filter on the pump (see right). Right now, it is covered by a mesh bag which is too high maintenance so we are researching 3D printing or more of a cylindrical filter made of a material that won't degrade too quickly. Keala started working on an infographic for our educational materials which looks amazing so far and we know Alrie is going to love it. Jazmine continued plant research to find more produce-like options for the IBC's. We are hoping to move media into the IBC that was emptied as of last update to finish up that portion of the system as soon as possible.
The current pump we need to find a filter to cover.
April 29, 2019
We have finally determined exactly what we are going to fix. It has been difficult because there are two other groups from SJSU working on the system for their senior design projects so we didn't want to intrude on their progress. We are working on the IBC that Lindsay and I drained last week as well as working on the filter. Finally, we are going to make educational materials with research emphasized on the best plants and fish for an aquaponics system for Alrie to use in the future.
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The team is working on our design updates and constantly changing the Gantt chart to accurately represent our project progress. Our goal for this upcoming week are to get the IBC back up and running. We have conducted a lot of extra research which can be found on the "Problem and Research" tab.
April 26, 2019
In order to jumpstart some physical changes of the system, Lindsay and I visited the garden on Friday and another San Jose State student met us there. We drained out an entire IBC and cleaned out the algae build up in order to better prepare it for a new plant. Photos and extra updates can be found in the "Personal Weekly Updates" tab! We also looked at the pump / filter mechanism and are doing research on what to use as a filter instead of the mesh bag.
April 23, 2019
This week the team worked on an introduction to define our project as outlined on the "Problem" page of this portfolio. To establish a project timeline, a Gantt chart was made as a team ("Team Documents" section). In addition, we reached out to Alrie and other university teams that have worked on the aquaponics system in the past. We are meeting with Alrie on Tuesday to collect data including flow rate, number of fish in the pond, dimensions on PVC pipes as well as dimensions for the potential styrofoam rafts. Lindsay and I have the chance to meet with a few of the university teams on Friday for more detailed information on their findings and developments throughout their project duration.
As for more specific updates including research, the additions to the "Problems" and "Team Documents" pages outline the developments made this week.
Our whole team visited the site again today to talk with Alrie to define and solidify our goals. We also met up with the other teams working on the project including students from EWB SJSU and seniors at SJSU working on this system for their senior design project.
Minutes from our April 26th Visit:
Purpose: Define problems to be addressed in our design iterations
Date: April 23, 2019
Time: 4:10-4:45 pm
Place of Meeting: Middlebrook Gardens, 76 Race Street, San Jose, CA
Who Attended: Brooke, Keala, Lindsay
Components
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Four media-beds (IBCs)
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One, long floating-raft bed
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Note: water is cycled every 2-3 days; should be every 2-3 hours
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Two barrels (1 blue, 1 white)
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Pump LL1200 generic brand
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Note: unsure about GPH (gallons per hour)
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Note: pump is attached to a PVC pipe that is wrapped in a mesh bag for filtration purposes - does not appear super effective (!)
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Oxygenator
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Note: if the PVC ends 18 inches or more above the pond, the water will oxygenate itself naturally
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Schematic: Create a sketch!
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Fish pond
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Water filtered and pumped upwards to intersection between the blue barrel and the PVC to Bed 1 and
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Bed 1 filters directly down to the fish pond
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Blue barrel leads through PVC and into Beds 2, 3, 4
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via gravity
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Bed 4 leads to the long, ground-level bed
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via gravity
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Long, ground-level bed leads through PVC to the fish pond
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via gravity
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Measurements
2L / 1.98s into pond water flow rate into pond from long-bed (only)
1.01 L/s
2L / 2.88s into Bed 1
0.694 L/s
2L / 6.38s into Bed 2
0.313 L/s
2L / 16.50s into Long Bed
0.121 L/s
50 inches from ground to PVC that flows into Bed 1
43 inches from ground to PVC that flows into Bed 4
7 inches decrease in height across beds
To do: measure length of pipe from Bed 1 to Bed 4
To do: confirm 2.5 inches round PVC piping
Project Goals
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Troubleshoot water filter in fish tank to increase flow; optimize efficiency
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Create a straining solution for water flowing into the pump/filter
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Reconstruct PVC section between Beds 2-4 to increase flow into Long Bed
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Clear out stagnant water and moss growth as needed
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Increase capability of gravitational flow (measure slope angle?)
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Demonstrate the direction of water flow through the system for educational purposes
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Labeling pipes
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Labeling beds
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Creating an educational booklet or pamphlet (include information regarding fish and plant care)​
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April 16, 2019
Our goal for the quarter is to create a new iteration of the aquaponics system in the garden. We already recognized a few things we can fix from water flow to efficiency. In the photos on the right, we can see Alrie's current aquaponics system.
Our team will be meeting multiple times a week to develop our project and ensure the design is human based and the best solution for Alrie's needs. We are currently doing research on aquaponics systems and contacting previous groups that have worked with the aquaponics system at Middlebrook Gardens as well.
Not only do we want to reestablish the aquaponics system, we also want to help Alrie spread awareness and education throughout the community regarding living a more sustainable life.
Photos of Alrie's Current System
Throughout this project, we are hoping to also develop teamwork skills as well. Collaborating with a community partner will give us experience with working with multiple groups to produce the best outcome. Our communication skills will be tested and broadened as well.