From toilet to fish farms

2007/07/04 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Arrantza
• Ekologia

Human and bovine urine can be a food for plankton, so it could be used in fish farms. Fish eat plankton, which means they must produce plankton constantly in nurseries. Chemicals are normally used, but not available everywhere. In some places in India, for example, it is not possible to obtain these substances. Biologists from the University of Kalyani propose a solution: they have raised the species Moina micrura of zooplankton through urine collected in university baths. It is also an economic substitute for chemicals, since adding a little half a liter of urine and a little manure to 4,500 liters of water is enough to increase fish food.