Automatic waste water treatment, aeration, and retrieval for a hybrid aquarium/plant system

¹ Department of Industrial Education and Technology, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua City, Taiwan, R.O.C.
² Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Chung Chou University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C.
³ Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, R.O.C.

^* Corresponding author : minchie.chiu@msa.hinet.net

Abstract

Because of the greenhouse effect, global climate changes will adversely influence the water supply in the future. As can be seen in traditional reservoirs, the crisis will be exacerbated due to the reservoir‘s sedimentation. From a global view, 70 % of freshwater resources are used for agricultural purposes. Thus, water management and infrastructure changes are needed to improve the situation if current climate conditions continue into the future. In order to save water resources, an attempt to reuse a pond‘s wastewater for agricultural irrigation is proposed. Utilizing waste water treatment via nitrification (with nitrifying bacteria) and aeration processes, the plant will receive enough fertilizer extracted from fish dung. Additionally, to assure a safe environment, the temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH (potential of hydrogen) value of the aquarium will be monitored online and shown on the interface of the server device. Various automatic functions such as an aquarium filtering system, a waste water treatment system, a plant irrigation system, a waste water aeration system, and a water retrieval system are also designed in the hybrid aquarium/plant system. Consequently, a prototype of a PC-based automatic plant/aquarium hybrid system is established.