| Summary: | With the impact of decreasing arable land and the rapid growth of global population, more people are beginning to attach importance to hydroponic systems, which is an innovative solution that may efficiently solve this problem. The incredible growth of the global hydroponic market has already raised many entrepreneurs’ or even countries’ attentions. There is a multitude of research, which has already proven that plants grow much faster in hydroponic systems, and have more nutrients than plants grown from soil. However, many scientists also found out that having a totally closed system may also promote the spread of pathogens and pests, which can cause a great amount of economic loss to hydroponic operators. Therefore, reliable and efficient methods of preventing harmful organisms to enter the system are imperative and crucial for ensuring successful hydroponics management.
This research was done in order to discover if there is a semipermeable membrane which can block the algae or fungus outside, but allow the dissolved nutrients to enter the hydroponic system. In addition, this would reduce the cost of cleaning hydroponic systems and utilize a material that is friendly to the environment. It was hypothesized that by combining several coffee filters, which are biodegradable, this goal may be accomplished. In the first experiment, a cup with coffee filters was placed in algae water to observe if coffee filters can work efficiently for at least 3 days. In the second experiment, a “jar test” was performed for different types of filters, and it was indicated that essential coffee filters can block out algae by 100%. Finally, the last experiment involved implementing the filters in a hydroponic system. The results show that coffee filters in the hydroponic system are capable of blocking out most of algae.
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