Another thing that worried us, was the pool. It in not a secret that disinfectants for pool water have their disadvantages.
Last year we spent about 600€ on chlorine, acid and other chemicals. Our children had the usual ear infections and at the end of the summer green hair.
Water...After love, the most precious thing on earth.
Yet we use it to flush our toilets. Actually by doing so we throw away two
valuable things, but more on that under waste.
At Finca La Tierra we have our own well, that, up till now, has given us sufficient water.
Nevertheless, we live in an area where every drop counts, so we decided to clean the water as much as we can and use it at least twice. Have a look at how we made a
Reed Bed Filter :
Time for a radical change and the fulfilment of a long cherished dream:
A natural pool !
Unfortunately, in our house we can´t separate black and grey water. The whole water recycle system (reed bed filter) could be a lot smaller if we could..
Our tubing for waste water is for black and grey water combined, so we don´t have a choice.
Or do we?
Yes, a compost toilet is the answer.
It would mean, no more black waste water and a valuable gain for the compost heap. Another project for the future.
So, for the time being, we have mixed waste water that needs to be cleaned.
All our waste water first goes into a classical 3 chamber septic tank..
Solids and grease stay behind and out comes dirty water, that runs into a deposit with a pump.
From there it goes in small portions and short time intervals on to the filter bed.
We built a 9 m2 bassin, laid all the tubing and filled it with rock wool as substrate for the plants.
We got the rock wool from a green house in El Ejido, Spain´s largest agriculture area close to Almería.. It meant two long journies with a van to one of the most depressing landscapes you have ever seen: plastic, plastic and more plastic, as far as you can see.
What looks like a big city from the air, is in reality a huge number of greenhouses, where a great part of the fruit and vegetables we find in the supermarkets in the whole of Europe is produced.
If you think you can bear the truth about how are vegetables are being produced, read Felicity Lawrence´s: "Not on the label"
Apparently, things have improved a little since she wrote her book, which for us was the real eye-opener.
To me however, this is about as close as you get to the opposite os sustainable.
But it was an interesting trip and we could have the rock wool for free as long as we loaded it ourselves.
Above you see a trial run of the (very) smelly water. The aquatic plants love this though , the bacteria around their roots live of the nutrients in the water.
The smell isn´t noticeable once the filter is covered with shells or gravel.
And out comes cristal clear odourless water, ready for a second life...
By the way, these pictures are from 2009. This year, we changed our chlorine pool into a natural one.
Go to: Our Natural Pool....
BIO 9000, S. L.
C/ Inca, 7
29640 Fuengirola - Málaga
Tfno.: 951 311 205- 902 105 806
Fax: 952 198 375
info_bio9000.com
DATOS DE LA MUESTRA DATOS DEL SOLICITANTE
Informe de ensayo nº: 141912 PAUL ARTS .
Muestra: AGUA DE POZO La Alcaparra, 6
Referencia: ENTRADA . MIJAS (Málaga)
Remitido por: Cliente Fecha: 26/06/09 Tfno: 607502483
Inicio análisis: 26/06/2009 Fin de análisis: 28/06/2009
El presente informe solo afecta a la muestra analizada. No deberá reproducirse sin autorización expresa de Bio 9000, S.L.U.
En la realización de los análisis se han utilizado como referencia métodos oficiales, normalizados o reconocidos internacionalmente.
ANALISIS DE RESIDUALES (AGUAS Y LODOS)
Parámetros investigados Resultado Procedimiento Nivel permitido
ANALISIS DE AGUA RESIDUAL
Ph (concentración en ión hidrógeno) 6,94 unid. Ph PE-F-01
Conductividad eléctrica a 20ºC 1334 uS/cm 10
D.B.O.5 (Manometría) 168 mg/l O2
D.Q.O. (Oxidación con Dicromato) 342 mg/l
Sólidos en suspensión (Filtración F. vidrio) 58 mg/l PE-F-15
Grasas y aceites (Extracción con Hexano) 4,1 mg/l PE-F-34
Fdo.: Daniel Aguilar Galindo
Responsable de Calidad
Biólogo col. nº 773
OBSERVACIONES:
ENTIDAD CERTIFICADA LABORATORIO AUTORIZADO
ISO 9001:2000 Consejería de Salud A 46/I
US-3073 HH
DELEGACIONES EN MALLORCA, MADRID, ALICANTE, SEVILLA, BARCELONA, CANARIAS, LEON, LA CORUÑA Y NAVARRA
Informe de ensayo nº: 141913 PAUL A .
Muestra: AGUA DE POZO
Referencia: SALIDA . MIJAS (Málaga)
Inicio análisis: 26/06/2009 Fin de análisis:
Ph (concentración en ión hidrógeno) 7,48 unid. Ph PE-F-01
Conductividad eléctrica a 20ºC 1086 uS/cm 10
D.B.O.5 (Manometría) <5 mg/l O2
D.Q.O. (Oxidación con Dicromato) 36 mg/l
Sólidos en suspensión (Filtración F. vidrio) 13 mg/l PE-F-15
Grasas y aceites (Extracción con Hexano) <5 mg/l PE-F-34
This analysis was done after 2 months. As you can see, both the biochemical and chemical oxygen demand of the water were reduced to acceptable levels.
We use this water for the vegetable garden, but with reversed osmosis this could be drinking water again.
