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Growing Cleaner WaterUsing Plants to Purify Rivers, Ponds and WastewaterThe growing season may only be 95 days long, but Burlington, Vermont, is a hotbed of gardening innovation. It's home to Gardener's Supply as well as to the National Gardening Association, and to Ocean Arks International, a global leader in the field of wastewater treatment. But, wait, what does wastewater treatment have to do with gardening? Based on their observations of the natural processes at work in healthy rivers, ponds and wetlands, the folks at Ocean Arks have developed a system of floating mini-gardens that remove impurities from contaminated water. Over the past ten years they have studied hundreds of different types of plants and aquatic organisms to determine which ones most effectively remove which types of contaminants. Their ecologically engineered gardens replicate and accelerate natural purification processes, and are currently being used to treat sewage, high-strength organic wastewaters, as well as contaminated natural bodies of water. The Ocean Arks technique of applied water gardening can be used in a greenhouse or in natural or manmade waterways. In many cases, they are able to combine wastewater treatment with the production of value-added agricultural and botanical goods such as cut flowers, fish, hydroponic vegetables, gourmet mushrooms, fiber crops, or endangered plants. These systems can be incorporated into residential settings or into most any municipal or industrial environment.
Berea College, located outside of Lexington, Kentucky, is constructing an on-campus Eco-Village, complete with passive solar housing units, an environmental education center and permaculture landscaping. Ocean Arks has designed a greenhouse-based system that will provide on-site ecological waste treatment and will recycle a portion of the water for toilet flushing. This project is paving the way toward sustainable, community-oriented housing while providing an 'ecological laboratory' for studying waste conversion. In addition to purifying water, the system will also be producing profitable byproducts such as fish and flowers by harnessing nutrients inherent in the wastewater. Berea serves as an exemplary 'green' model for college campuses wishing to expand student housing. To learn more about Berea's impressive Eco-Village project, visit them at www.berea.edu/sens/. To learn more about Ocean Arks projects, visit them at www.oceanarks.org |
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