‘Fishy Water’ Is A Hit In HPU Project
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Things have been flowing well at HPU’s aquaponics facility on its Hawaii Loa campus. Since the official blessing in February, the sustainable food-production system has harvested a bounty of vegetables and herbs and is proving to be a valuable student research tool.
So much so, there are plans to expand the project to nearby land with three greenhouses and a 30-foot diameter fish tank, instead of the 6-foot one now in use.
“It’s exciting to have the space available, however, we are waiting on funding,” said Louis Primavera, associate professor of microbiology and director of the aquaponic facility. “What we hope to do ... is to mass-produce the produce for the cafeteria here.” The major goal, however, is to spark interest in sustainable agriculture.
“Our grape tomatoes are growing really nicely,” he added. “The students are doing research with the plants to see if saltwater will increase the nutrition levels of the tomatoes. As soon as they’re ripe, they are picked and frozen (for study).”
Described as a low-input/high-output, chemical-free system, aquaponics combines aquaculture (raising fish in tanks) and hydroponics (growing plants in a soil-less medium). HPU grows its plants organically using water from the tilapia tank. It goes through pipes to bring more nutrients to the plants. The fish water filters through the gravel and plants, converting toxic ammonia into natural fertilizer. The cleansed water is then recycled to the fish tank in a closed-loop system.
They constantly adjust and test to see what thrives best, he said. They also had to fence in the greenhouse, where plants are popular with wild birds. Also on the menu are tomatoes, kale, watercress, bok choy, soybeans, alfalfa, lettuce, basil and other herbs.
“I’m growing the alfalfa and soybeans to be turned into pellets and used as organic feed for the fish,“said Primavera. “And we recently put in a soil bed with seeds that will flower to attract beneficial insects like ladybugs. In order to do the best we can we don’t want to use pesticides, so I want to attract these bugs.”
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