John Rains

chad Christopher wrote:Generally speaking, no. You cannot sustainably produce enough bio-gas for a single homestead. I don't have the contacts. But Bob Hamburg. From West Virginia is a leader in biogas technology. Bio gas is trivial at a single family level. But an intentional community could benifit.

My thoughts exactly...doesnt make sense unless you are generating alot of organic waste from humans and farm operations. Also, temperature is an important factor...thats why you see alot of these smaller biogas systems in tropical climates where temperature is warm and consistent year around.

Household wastewater here in the US (unless your Mr Natural) also has other constituents that dont need to go into digesters like cleaners, personal care products, pharmas...And I would think you would still be required by law to dispose of any overflow from the bioreactor to an on-site disposal field.

I still think the easiest onsite wastewater solution here in the US is the septic tank and disposal field or compost bin toilet (and disposal field if you want to be kosher with the gov't). I think more of these systems should incorporate vegetated beds so that nutrients can be extracted from the wastewater before being disposed into the soil.

I would think that as long as the bottom of the pit is 2 feet above the high water table groundwater contamination shouldnt be too big of a concern....assuming the soil type has acceptable percolation rates. You know if this is just a single househould waste pit that has been abandoned I wouldnt be  concerned about transport...I wouldnt think enteric bacteria could persist too long in those conditions. Unless you have a well or pond nearby I wouldnt bother investigating it.

How was the quality of the prefab shed? Ive read review that are mixed on the build quality.

Ulla Bisgaard wrote:

Mart Hale wrote:Very kool!

What variety of Cassava are you growing?

Do you have a slight bitter aftertaste?

Thanks for sharing!

I actually don’t remember the variety LOL. I have grown and cloned them for so long, that I honestly don’t remember what I started with. As for being bitter, I haven’t had that experience.
This year, we are actually moving the plants to a permanent bed, so the plants are secure from gophers and rats, and we can install irrigation. This also means, that I can harvest as needed, instead of doing a full harvest each time. I am also hoping this will mean larger roots.

Where did you get your casava tubers? from?

John Rains wrote:Cris,

Have you tried experimenting with sowing seed after you harvest the litter layer? I had a thought that if youre working with hardwoods, you could harvest the litter in the fall and sow cool season annuals to cover the soil for the winter and spring...not sure how that would effect the ecology though.

I like piling up leaves in the fall and then raking them away to another spot...the worms do good work tilling...if you got chickens, let them loose before you sow :)

I used to get old produce from the local grocery store to throw in my compost pile...had to share pickup days with a hog farmer though. In the fall its bagged leaves on the side of the road for pick and in the summer its bagged grass clippings like others have mentioned...mulch the leaves and compost the clippings...those composted grass clippings can get hot :)...seems like Starbucks also has a program to give away coffee grounds..just my two cents

I agree with the other posters, the setup seems a little complicated not to mention the cost of getting a custom tank and stand built. I guess if the stand is supported by the floor and not the RMH that should be fine. Heat transfer is a function of area and it doesnt seem like you would get much area from having the fire riser partially (I dont see dimensions) envloped by the tank. I wonder if anyone has thought about putting the exchanger (copper coil and jacket) around the outside of the fire riser instead of the J-tube? Good luck!

Just my thoughts. If your site has higher elevations you could always pump waste somewhere on site that is above the water table. If not you could still pump to a mound system or elevated reed beds/constructed wetland. You might want to verify with some perc tests on your site to verify the depth to high water table.

You might could go tankless if you use a compost toilet and bin system for your solid waste and then have all liquid waste goto a reed bed/subsurface wetland. One reason I dont want a septic tank for treatment is just having to pump residual solids out of the tank and dispose/compost. Just put a grease/grit interceptor before youre discharge to the reed bed/wetland from the graywater plumbing. You could probably get away with draining the compost bin leachate to the reed bed as well. Check your local/state regs for locating your system though...Here I have to maintain a 75' setback from the property line and its making me rethink where Im going to put my system.

Your family may generate enough solid waste for a digester but in your climate it would probably be a slower digestion rate and that might affect digester volume and gas production. I could see puting the digester or a series of small digesters in a solar greenouse solving this without much heating cost. To me it seems simple enough to try compost toilet with graywater system. To me these alternative system outside of a standard septic tank and leachfield only make sense if youre going to reclaim nutrients in your wastewaters from harvesting biomass out of a reed bed or wetland...if I didnt care about that I would just do a standard septic and leachfield.

Austin Durant wrote:OMG plasmoid tech, yes! Who have you been studying here-- Bendall & Alchemical Science? Dan Winter? Clif High? Joe Cell? Others? Always looking to learn more here. It's definitely high on my list to get some land where I can tinker with this in relative privacy!

I love hearing Clif High ramble on about schizo weird woo stuff...this is the year right?

I guess Ill throw it out there too for those in north central Alabama. The Indian Creek Trail in Huntsville, AL has alot of Osage Orange and PawPaw trees. I was able to collect OO seedballs this fall...folks in the area can check in with me later in the year for seedlings.