From: "altamira" <altamira@ecpi.com>
>Thank you for the link, Brian. I've had some interesting
>experiences using plants for purifying soil and water. One of the
>most interesting has been using water hyacinth to clear water.
>I found that water hyacinth will clear the water nicely, although
>it does take longer than using alum. Interestingly, the animals
>prefer to drink the water hyacinth treated water over every other
>kind of water I've offered them, including city water, rain water,
>pond water, and bottled spring water. I don't know what effect
>water hyacinth has on pathogens in the water. It did take away
>the unpleasant odor associated with "iron bacteria."
I first remember reading about using water hyacinth in this way
from the early work of John Todd and thr "New Alchemists". John is
currently running a firm the engineers ecosystems for water
treatment called Ocean Arks Intl. He was also the author of an
excellent book on "Living Machines".
Many of the experts in these areas are hanging out on the Mars
Societys life support mailing list. They are working on biological
systems for the Mars Arctic Research station, and future Mars
missions.
More info at: http:/home.marssociety.org/tech/lifesupport/
And check out www.greenstar.org
The new Alchemists journals as well as a facinating library of
appropriate tech books is at:
www.villageearth.org/Atlibrary/cdrom.htm
This last is a fascinating resource, soon to be an addition to my
library.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
Adler Planetarium www.adlerplanetarium.org
Life Extension Foundation, www.lef.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
Mars Society, www.marssociety.org
Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
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