Figuring it all out

So after a number of requests for an update on the Aquaponics project, I find myself with a little time to sit down (as I recover from a kidney infection) and put together a summary of what has been going on. As I must continually remind myself, things go much slower here than I am accustomed to, and I find that I am never as far advanced as where I would like to be. However progress has been made, and the strange contraption outside my house is certainly starting to draw comments from neighbors and visitors alike (I have decided that I will wear the “crazy gringa” nametag with pride, as I don’t believe that I am ever going to shake it).

The first challenge for the prototype was finding all the parts for the system which – between my somewhat limited Spanish (especially when it comes to plumbing accessories) and the extraneous nature of the requests – proved to be a little difficult. It is also important to remember that as anappropriate technology, sometimes the easiest place to buy the required parts doesn’t really work in the overall scheme of the project. So Jango and I traveled back and forth across Antigua: to hardware stores, markets and recycling yards; drawing strange diagrams, trying to mime out the parts of the system, and generally making a spectacle of ourselves (or maybe just me), gradually accumulating all the necessary parts.

Whiteboards solve everything

The PVC parts didn’t prove to be too difficult because PVC is, afterall, a little like Lego – if you haven’t got the piece you want, you can generally fit a few others together until you get the same function. Even the pump – which I had thought would be one of the harder parts to find turned out to be pretty easy. The two most challenging components have turned out to be ones that I thought would be easiest: the wood required to build the structure, and the barrels – for which the design is named.

Wood in Guatemala is notoriously bad quality. All too often it is warped, full of knots, and very, very wet. I finally found a place that had reasonable quality pine, and choose to buy the untreated wood since the cost of treated pine was double. Even so, I will have to work on getting the cost of the frame down, as it is one of the most expensive components of the system. I will also be interested to see how the untreated pine holds up, especially since rainy season is now upon us…

Building the frame - with very wet wood!

The second challenge proved to be finding used barrels. The key problem is that in a country as poor as Guatemala, you do not find a “disposable society” as you do in richer countries. Here, something that is used does not necessarily mean that it is still cheap – especially if it has only been used once. 55-gallon barrels turned out to be just such an item. After weeks of asking around, I finally got a lead that there was a place on the outskirts of Guatemala City that sold used barrels. The place was in an extremely poor, somewhat ghetto suburb that didn’t feel at all secure and the shop itself was unable to issue legitimate tax receipts (hmmm). However, they did sell second-hand barrels! Excited at finally finding them, I stuffed three in the back of the Suburu as quickly as I could and got out of there. I had had the presence of mind before I bought them to ask what had been in the barrels previously, to which I had been told only soap. However once I got them home and cut them open, I discovered that this soap was actually a very sticky resin, and I spent the next two days stuck inside barrels, scrubbing them clean.

The cost of the barrels – even used ones – is currently about 1/3 of the price of the system, so it is also one of the elements that I want to work on to  reduce the price. Potentially with a great order of barrels, I can negotiate a better rate, but I am also keeping my eyes peeled and hopes up to discover something that is more appropriate and easier to come across.

So now I have an assembly. The barrels are cut, scrubbed and as ready as they will ever be. The frame is together (just awaiting the assistance of some strong passer-bys to help me put it into position) and the various PVC contraptions are laid out waiting to be put into use. If the rains hold off, I have high hopes of putting it together tomorrow and finally being able to take the puzzled looks off my friends faces. And after that? The part I have been waiting for – finally putting it to the test and seeing how the system works in this climate. I promise to keep you updated, although I should also mention that in all that I have read on aquaponics, this next section generally comes with a warning: be prepared to be a serial fish killer.

Let’s hope for the best.

Corrina