The University of Montana’s new aquaponics system is innovative, sustainable, and efficient. More importantly, though, it attracts attention from students. The spectacular machine stands tall in UM’s Corner Store and its red and blue lights that help with chlorophyll production can be seen from a distance through the store’s window, piquing students’ curiosity.
Jeff Pernell, founder of Galactic Farms, a Missoula-based urban farming company, said his aquaponics system can teach students about the planet.
“They see how self-contained ecosystems interact with one another,” UM alumnus Pernell said. “You get the connection that a system works in a loop;” it breaks the planetary system down to a manageable learning level on a smaller scale.
The system works by using plants and fish in an isolated environment. The fish produce waste when they are fed, which is changed by bacteria into useable energy for the plants. The process comes full circle when clean water is recycled back to the fish.
There are three filters in place to ensure that the waste produced by the fish doesn’t physically make it to the plants. A UV filter kills anything living in the water between the fish and the plants, a solid filter catches particulate matter, and a bio-filter feeds the bacteria that support plant structure. Put simply, UM students can rest easy knowing they’re food hasn’t actually been covered in fish poop.
The process will allow UM Dining to grow a wide variety of nutrient-rich leafy greens as well as fresh herbs and edible flowers year-round, which would normally be a challenge in Montana’s cold-weather climate.
The success of the aquaponics system is dependent upon the symbiotic relationship between the fish and the plants, said Natasha Hegmann, UM Dining’s garden director.
The fish, native Montana perch, are caught in Frenchtown, about 15 miles from Missoula. “What’s really nice about capturing during the cold season is that the fish are very healthy,” Pernell said. “There are fewer issues with disease.”
Pernell’s connection to UM Dining, where he worked in 1993, provided an easy choice for implementation of his aquaponics system. “It was a good tool to teach science, agriculture, horticulture, and local production,” he said. His past experience with UM Dining showed him that UM is “way ahead of the curve” with sustainability.
“UM Dining values locally sourced and fresh ingredients,” said Rebecca Wade, UM Dining’s sustainability director. “We are committed to innovative sustainability programming.”
Wade said the aquaponics system is an opportunity for students to get involved with internships. “UM Dining provides students with opportunities that can translate to professional work,” Wade said. When Jeff was a student “he developed some of the skills he needed to run a business in this field, and now, coincidentally, we are utilizing his business.”
“It shows that dining is very engaged in the student internship process and developing projects that can turn into vibrant learning opportunities,” Wade said.
Pernell got the idea for his first aquaponics design when he was an intern at UM and used it for his internship credit. That pilot system was utilized in UM’s Food Zoo from the summer of 2013 until just recently.
The new system, which will be managed by Hegmann’s interns, is mobile, built to last, and engineered for hands-on learning. “It has the ability to handle more than 4,000 pounds,” Pernell said, “so someone could hang off it and it wouldn’t budge.” Pernell also said that the system was designed with seismic activity in mind.
In addition to being disaster-proof, the system is space-, water-, and energy-efficient. It has 100 square feet of growing space, but takes up less than 40 square feet of floor space; no more than a table in the Corner Store. “It’s special because it’s vertical,” Pernell said. The vertical grow-towers allow for 150 to 200 percent more grow space than traditional farming.
“If the university decides they want to expand the system, there are plenty of opportunities to expand,” Pernell said.
The system uses LED grow-lights. They produce the equivalent of 650 watts of energy, but only use 120, and the entire system uses less than 500 watts of power when it is on. Compared to its output equivalent, a 650 HPS (high pressure sodium) grow-light, LEDs emit far less heat. This allows for the lights to be placed very close to the plants without causing them any harm, which, in turn, saves more space. Perhaps the most noticeable difference is their lifespans. A typical HPS setup has a lifespan of about 10,000 hours. Compared to the 50,000- to 100,000-hour lifespan of an LED setup, it’s a no-brainer.
Pernell’s design uses only 10 percent of the water that is required for traditional farming, and the 200 gallons of water that the system does use is continually being cleaned and recycled.
There are no chemical fertilizers used in the process, and since it’s maintained in an isolated environment, there’s no runoff into the surrounding ecosystem.
The UM Dining Garden and aquaponics system were created as learning laboratories to serve as sustainable food production models. These projects produce food for UM Dining’s guests while generating academic collaboration and educational opportunities for the community.
“It’s more of a demonstration project; more of an educational project,” Hegmann said. “We are pioneering a new technology.”
Pernell credits UM Dining and the UM Dining Garden for leading him down the path of sustainability and helping him find his niche.
“I got to see how dining services are making strides toward sustainability,” Pernell said. “There are lots of other schools trying to figure it out, and with that, there’s opportunity.”