Would floating a raft of salad greens on a pond containing fish and other critters be safe from a biological stand point? Or would I be risking pathogen from the water splashing on the salad?
I'd have no more concern eating salad greens from a floating raft than from a traditional garden if the pond is healthy.
I'd have huge concerns about either if the pond or the garden soil were unhealthy.
Then again, I'm quick to agree with the flaring raft because I appreciate aquaculture and aquaponics.
I think fish waste is excellent plant food and a far safer source of nitrogen than bags of chemical waste from a big box store.
As far as I can find, fish don't carry pathogens which transmit to humans. I think some water snails may carry liver flukes, but if you wash the greens and be careful not to eat any uncooked snails, it should be as safe as regular garden salad.
My irrigation water is untreated lake/river water. I sprinkle irrigate routinely. I regularly eat raw and unwashed vegetables from my garden. So whatever... I am a primate after all.
bird droppings would be the main concern IMO. Which is the same as a normal garden
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If you have giardia present in your pond, their cysts could get splashed up onto any leaves in or near the water surface. Giardia has a wide mammalian host range (beaver, muskrat, livestock, dogs, humans, etc.), so if their feces gets washed into your pond, there could be a risk for giardiasis.
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