From Aquatfs@aol.com Sat Jul  1 22:06:42 2000
Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2000 18:59:32 EDT
From: Aquatfs@aol.com
To: sanet-mg@cals.ncsu.edu
Subject: Aquaculture and Hydrolized Water

I'm catching up on my E-mail, and would like to comment on two previous 
postings:

Sustainable Aquaculture?:

I would like to remind everyone that "traditional" aquaculture has been 
around for centuries in countries outside of North America. The Chinese used 
to have small scale integrated farming systems that put the waste from pigs / 
chickens into ponds that produced algae that was consumed by fish, and the 
pond water with fish feces was used to irrigate / fertilize rice fields, 
where the crop waste was fed back to the pigs / chickens. The factory farming 
of fish is a recent "invention", and includes the farming of carnivorous fish 
instead of herbivorous fish. It is not necessary to harvest the oceans to 
produce fish meal to feed herbivorous fish. Unfortunately, in the name of 
faster growth, many fish farmers will feed fish meal based diets to 
herbivorous fish. This is similar to the practice of feeding all kinds of 
proteins to cows, which were designed to be herbivorous ruminants.

In short, aquaculture can be practiced in sustainable and non-sustainable 
ways, depending on the species selected, the design of the farm, the 
intensity of production, and the method by which the farm is integrated into 
the surrounding ecosystem.

Electrolytic Water:

I was at a trade show years ago and purchased report, in English, on Super 
Oxide Water. The process involves the electrolysis of tap water containing 
some added salt. The manufacturer claimed that two water fractions are 
produced: one with a lower pH and high ORP, and one with a higher pH and low 
ORP. The report presents data on the antimicrobial effects on a variety of 
microorganisms, of the low pH fraction. There was even data on the effect on 
"lawn disease germs". Unfortunately, nowhere in the report do they give the 
name of the Japanese company that manufactures the unit.

Before considering this technology as the answer to all problems, the 
following should be considered:

1. The Super Oxide Water (low pH fraction) is stated to have 440 ppm of 
chloride and 10 ppm of hypochlorite. Something to think about before this is 
sprayed in the field.

2. If this sanitizer is used on post harvest crops, I would be interested to 
see if there is any data on the shelf life (favorable or unfavorable) after 
treatment.

3. In determining the cost of this treatment, I believe that the Japanese 
hydrolysis units are pretty spendy. I would also like to see data on the 
electrical cost for hydrolyzing each gallon of water. Also, are the 
electrodes expendable, and if so, what is the expected life and replacement 
cost? How much salt is required per gallon of water treated?

Alan Ismond, P.Eng.
Aqua-Terra Consultants

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