Comparative Evaluation of Water Quality Properties: A Case Study of Coupled Commercial Aquaponics System

Abstract

The current study intends to evaluate the influence of seasonal changes on the water quality parameters of a coupled commercial aquaponics system. The determined water quality parameters for the comparative study were total ammonium-nitrogen (TAN), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) and phosphate (PO43-), water temperature (WT), water pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), and total dissolved solids (TDS). The WT and DO analysis were carried out using a portable dissolved oxygen meter (Model: PDO-520, Taiwan). A portable electrode pH meter (Model: PH-220, Taiwan) was utilized for the pH measurement. The TDS and EC readings were obtained using a multi-parameter water quality meter (PHT-27, China). The TAN, NO3-N, and PO43- determinations were done using their individual Merck Spectro-quant® test kits. The research results indicated a significant (p0.05) difference. The observed significant increase of NO3-N, PO43-, EC, and TDS in the summer and autumn periods could be associated to the increased fish feeding rate (which increases waste production) as well as relative increase in microbial waste conversion/mineralization. The investigated water quality makers were within the recommended amounts in the aquaponics system. Thus, in this study, seasonal differences have induced variation in the NO3-N, PO43-, WT, pH, EC, and TDS amounts. However, these differences do not affect the TAN and DO levels.

The current study intends to evaluate the influence of seasonal changes on the water quality parameters of a coupled commercial aquaponics system. The determined water quality parameters for the comparative study were total ammonium-nitrogen (TAN), nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) and phosphate (PO43-), water temperature (WT), water pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), and total dissolved solids (TDS). The WT and DO analysis were carried out using a portable dissolved oxygen meter (Model: PDO-520, Taiwan). A portable electrode pH meter (Model: PH-220, Taiwan) was utilized for the pH measurement. The TDS and EC readings were obtained using a multi-parameter water quality meter (PHT-27, China). The TAN, NO3-N, and PO43- determinations were done using their individual Merck Spectro-quant® test kits. The research results indicated a significant (p0.05) difference. The observed significant increase of NO3-N, PO43-, EC, and TDS in the summer and autumn periods could be associated to the increased fish feeding rate (which increases waste production) as well as relative increase in microbial waste conversion/mineralization. The investigated water quality makers were within the recommended amounts in the aquaponics system. Thus, in this study, seasonal differences have induced variation in the NO3-N, PO43-, WT, pH, EC, and TDS amounts. However, these differences do not affect the TAN and DO levels.