Loading...
Making aquaponics more sustainable using worms and water replenishment combined with a sensing- and IoT-based monitoring system
Editors
Other contributors
Epub Date
Issue Date
2024-09-21
Submitted date
Files
Loading...
applsci-14-08516.pdf
Adobe PDF, 3.47 MB
Alternative
Abstract
Aquaponics offers a simple conclusive solution to the food and environmental crisis around the world. This paper presents a comparative analysis of standard aquaponics with vermiponics (aquaponics with earthworms) before and after applying an optimal freshwater replenishment. Fish and plants were grown on a standard aquaponics testbed and a vermiponics testbed for 3 months each, initially without water replenishment, and then with 19% replenishment based on the fishtank volume. Water quality and environmental data were monitored, collected and processed using sensors and internet of things (IoT) devices. Daily growth analysis, the mean productivity of both testbeds before and after replenishment, the percentage of productivity difference and the general productivity comparison between standard and vermiponics testbeds were determined. Results showed an enhanced productivity of 2.83% and 5.54% for the standard testbed and the vermiponics testbed, respectively, when replenishment was applied. The yield improvement after replenishment was proven to be statistically significant, with p < 0.05 reassuring the impact of water replenishment. This research contributes to the understanding of the impact of water replenishment in aquaponics and vermiponics systems. Moreover, it provides insights into the effect of earthworms on both systems’ yield productivity.
Citation
Chandramenon P, Gascoyne A, Naughton L, Tchuenbou-Magaia F. (2024) Making Aquaponics More Sustainable Using Worms and Water Replenishment Combined with a Sensing- and IoT-Based Monitoring System. Applied Sciences, 14(18): article number 8516. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14188516
Publisher
Journal
Research Unit
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Embedded videos
Additional Links
Type
Journal article
Language
en
Description
© 2024. The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/app14188516
Series/Report no.
ISSN
2076-3417
EISSN
2076-3417
ISBN
ISMN
Gov't Doc #
Sponsors
This project has been partially internally funded by the School of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Wolverhampton and supported by the EU Horizon 2020 MSCA RISE Project ReACTIVE Too, Grant Agreement No 871163.