New Hydroponic System

I started a new project with the idea of making a new kind of hydroponic system.

Here are some pictures of my new hydroponic system. Unlike other hydroponic systems this one uses a brand new concept to reduce the amount of water involved in the whole process by approximately one fifth. Furthermore it uses a biological fluid for feeding (my pee!!!)

Nutrients from pee

Pee is rich in nitrogen that is the staple food for plants. But the nitrogen in pee needs some transformation before being useful for plants, and to make it safe if we want to grow edible vegetables.

The picture below is a reason of pride for me since I don't have a green thumb at all, but these are sprouts from pepper seeds have entirely gronw on this hydroponic platform!

On the picture below, on the left, it is shown the tank and pipes (actually hoses) which contains water and, in this prototype, the nourishing fluid. On the right it is visible the electronic control system.
It is made out from an LCDG controller that has been programmed to drive the pump and to receive data from sensors.

At the moment the only sensor is temperature, so the unit mostly works over a timed program. The program is very simple, and it just turns on and off a pump that makes the water with nutrients to circulate at intervals, and adapting to a day-night cycle. Further improvements include a level sensor for the tank, humidity sensors and more, but I have to see how this primitive prototype works for now.

EDIT Dec. 2017

While this system was somewhat successful I had to stop the experiment because I had to reclaim the space used by this installation, and eventually I've abandoned the project.

I noticed the plants suffered when the summer became really hot. Probably the amount of water was not enough and the addition of moisture sensors would be mandatory. Furthermore, a level sensor of the liquid inside the tank is a must since I often forgot to refill the tank, making the pump to fail for overheating. Also the process of making nutrients from pee is annoying ...and stinky, thus my decision to stop the experiment.

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