Filtration experiment using Plastic milk bottles.

[Dave 54]

I recalled an experiment that I read about on a Souh African pond forum .
So this year we have been washing endless plastic milk bottles from neighbours and friends , then removing all washing up liquid water from it by soaking it in fresh water and drying .
Then recycling these bottles into a mass of filter material by cutting these bottles into long strands of plastic strips which are then bagged, then washed again .
These large net bags will the be then placed in our number two vortex which is fully potculiss of mature with jap matting as the main biofilter.
The South Africans figuired out that they adding what must be Infinite miles of habitatation to be colonised by yet more helpful bacteria.
Sitting atop the Jap matting and from all acounts it worked too . .
I'm wondering if it will make the filter even more efficiant than it already is because if you look at the surface of the plastic under a powerful magnifying glass [one of which I keep in the first aid kit] you will see that th surface is very finely pitted .
Giving infinate [to them anyway] ready made homes for the bacteria to settle into take a hold and spreading out from this ready made anchor points .
With the air from three airstones churning through this material it will act a little the like K1 in our fourth filter sloughing off bacteria to be replaced with new in an endless cycle .

Dave

 

[Lisak1]

Cool idea @Dave 54 ! Can't wait to hear your results going forward!

 

[Tula]

Let us know how this turns out

 

[Mmathis]

@Dave 54 What's interesting, is that the very first thing I thought of when I started reading [before I got to the part where you mentioned the pitting], was that milk jugs have that that roughened, or "pitted" texture.

What a great way to recycle, reuse, repurpose! Gee, what a good fundraiser project for Boy Scouts -- but not sure we have the right market here in my area. So, if this works, Dave, let us know!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Absolutely no reason why this would not add a sizeable amount of SSA to your overall biofiltration. Giving the Nitrifying bacteria additional space to colonize when it was needed.

 

[Usman]

I recalled an experiment that I read about on a Souh African pond forum .
So this year we have been washing endless plastic milk bottles from neighbours and friends , then removing all washing up liquid water from it by soaking it in fresh water and drying .
Then recycling these bottles into a mass of filter material by cutting these bottles into long strands of plastic strips which are then bagged, then washed again .
These large net bags will the be then placed in our number two vortex which is fully potculiss of mature with jap matting as the main biofilter.
The South Africans figuired out that they adding what must be Infinite miles of habitatation to be colonised by yet more helpful bacteria.
Sitting atop the Jap matting and from all acounts it worked too . .
I'm wondering if it will make the filter even more efficiant than it already is because if you look at the surface of the plastic under a powerful magnifying glass [one of which I keep in the first aid kit] you will see that th surface is very finely pitted .
Giving infinate [to them anyway] ready made homes for the bacteria to settle into take a hold and spreading out from this ready made anchor points .
With the air from three airstones churning through this material it will act a little the like K1 in our fourth filter sloughing off bacteria to be replaced with new in an endless cycle .

Dave

looks like a good idea Sir , coke bottles can be used? and hows surface of plastic staw after cuting , under microscope

 

[Dave 54]

It give Val good physiotherapy hand wise and is a project that will keep me busy , Jeff is on course to finish the cosmtic side of things and we are poping out to our Local B&Qto get the last of the materials .
Another bit of Lateral thinking [If you all remember] we chose to cover our pond with a Large 3m wide parasol that had to be watched incase of wind .
After a bit of thinking back to my naval days and in particular as to how ships are secured along side I had an idea
So during our last B&Q we bought a 16m length of white bungee strap and after a bit of lateral thinking I found if I adapted the idea of the ships springs [wires that hold a ship alongside] I found that by gonnecting up all the parasols struts in sequence with the bungee strap connecting up all the struts of the parsol to the bungee stap then we could adapt and copy this idea .
Winds up to 15mph are no longer a problem all lengths have been tied in equal aqual lengths and then crossed over one another giving us the sping that now allows the parsol struts to flex with the sraps, so that when the wind blows the wind cannot gain lift under any one side .
Why white bungee straps ?......simple its so that I can see them in the dark when I go out to give them their last feed of the day[this time of year with the winter months fast approaching ] and I dont want to end up hanging myself up in the straps should I go the the upper seat to sit and watch them for a while .
However obviously it is prudent to lower the parsol at winds above 15mph

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

one problem about this is the amount of bottles per filter this is going to take ,I slightly under estimated.
But so far weve got enough in the way of milk bottles for three onion style sacks full which equates to approximately one filter so we have alot to go before weve got enough for both .
Val cut her way through a total of 19 bottles just the other day brought in by friends neighbours and Val's relief carers giving me a rest each day but they keep on coming .
In the kitchen we have a further 8 waiting to be cut up but that will be when the next big load comes in again

Dave

 

[Stephen T.]

Milk jug collectors of the world, UNITE! It's great to hear of others that are thinking out of the box, recycling these. I've been collecting milk bottles for months and am still short about 20. I'm using them, filled with water, placed in an insulated enclosure, as heat storage for my greenhouse. At present there are 110 gallons of water storage. They are placed between my wood fired sauna and the greenhouse in a 2' thick wall/enclosure. I can vent the heat from the sauna through the bottles after a sauna (several friends use it, so it's hot for hours). Then, as needed, I can vent air through them and into the greenhouse.

 

[Lisak1]

Very cool, @Stephen T. ! Or should I say "very warm"? Ha?

We re-use 40 or 50 milk jugs every winter as tiny greenhouses when we do our winter seed sowing. I, too, like the fact that we are creating a second purpose for something that would otherwise be trash.

 

[Dave 54]

Val cut up a further 22 milk bottles just yesterday , I under estimated the amount the cut up bottle's would settle in their net bags.
S I estimate that we will need double what we originally thought we'd need...... however we have bottles coming in from all over i;e friends, neighbours even Val's morning carers have caught the collecting of bottles bug and I've never drank so much milky coffee in my life but its all for a good cause.
At this rate we have enough for 3 bags but need enough for a further 3 bags which all about the same size as a sack of onions
@Steven T . I'm glad you approve well done @Lisak1 great minds think alike each doing their own bit for the planet

Dave

 

[MitchM]

We return our milk jugs for $0.25 each.
Good to hear you found a use for yours, Dave.

 

[Dave 54]

Wow Val is a star she managed to get through 44 milk bottles brought in by her carers over the past two days which has helped add to the the stockpile of cut up milk bottles .
We estimate we have enough for one filter with alott over so hopefully we can get on and get on with the project earlier than we originally thought .
The nets are all at the fish outlet waiting to be picked up so its a question of how much each net can acctually hold

Dave

 

[budgenator]

Too bad there wasn't a way to spin them like cotton candy

 

[ChrisP]

Similar to this, I use pallet banding. We always have scraps of it at work, and it has a rough finish.

It's relatively cheap, but if you ask around at companies that ship with pallets, they may save some scraps for you.