The Work of Ocean Arks International

Water Remediation and Restorers

Treating municipal and industrial wastewater and restoring contaminated bodies of water has been our primary focus for over 10 years. We utilize diverse constructed aquatic ecosystems -- low energy and cost effective methods of purifying wastewater, removing pollutants and digesting sludge. "Restorers" are the most recent physical model for employing the natural processes. Restorers are assemblies of engineered ecologies on floating rafts. Typical applications include the treatment of waters and biological solids in ponds, lagoons (including wastewater treatment lagoons) and slow-moving water bodies, such as canals. One of the main features of the technology is the ability to pass large volumes of water through the cells of the Restorer with minimal energy. This is possible because the hydraulic lift requirements are minimized as the components operate at the water surface level. Restorers act as chemostats, generating great volumes of beneficial microorganisms, which flow into the water body. It is the complete body of water which treats itself. The first Restorer, launched in 1991 on Flax Pond in Massachusetts, continues to successfully treat water polluted from landfill leacheate. A Restorer system installed during the summer of 2001 treats wastewater from a Tyson Foods processing facility near the Chesapeake Bay. One of our latest projects is a Restorer for a city with nearly 100 km of canals in southern China. The 600 m long pilot treats sewage and storm water in a heavily polluted canal within the city, transforming the area into a beautiful community center.

The Water Stewards Network (external link)

The Water Stewards Network is our vehicle for disseminating the practices of water stewardship that can empower communities to retain, or regain, their autonomy and integrity amidst the tides of globalization. This grassroots initiative was launched in the summer of 2003 in response to the current state of global water politics. Corporations, international trade and development agencies, and governments are forcibly turning water into a commodity and placing its management in the hands of the free market. This approach is leaving a path of ecological, economic and cultural destruction in its wake. There is a mounting international campaign, however, rising in opposition to these trends in policy—peoples’ movements emerging from every region of the globe demanding that water remain in the commons as a human right. There is no doubt that we are on a sure path to a freshwater crisis in the near future. In order to turn this situation around it is imperative that we begin to implement sustainable solutions to our water problems immediately. The issue of corporate control is, of course, highly important, yet we feel the global dialogue is deficient in the area of alternatives. The Water Stewards Network is building and distributing a ‘toolbox’ of information on the many facets of water management that will enable people to take responsibility for the local water resources. We cannot wait for governments to come to agreement on the issues surrounding the privatization of ‘the commons’. The people of the world need to act now to ensure a water secure future.

Research and Development

OAI maintains a constant level of evolution, never becoming static. Through experimentation and the development of prototype projects, our wastewater treatment technologies have only improved over time. Ocean Arks has developed a number of new technologies, such as ecologically engineered reactors and Restorers. We now work with many graduate and PhD students from the University of Vermont to further our understanding of the possibilities for ecological transformation of organic wastes. Current and future projects include biological scrubbing of industrial gases, further research into biological phosphorous removal from water, the socioeconomics of small-scale wastewater management, and research into the biological pathways of ‘non-traditional’ water pollutants such as growth hormones, endocrine disruptors and other pharmaceuticals. We feel that ecological wastewater management is the most hopeful, and perhaps the only, solution for the removal of these newly understood contaminants.

Education

Ocean Arks seeks to expand the knowledge and understanding of ecological engineering and the principles of 'designing with nature' worldwide. OAI frequently works with universities, educational institutions and ecology centers, giving lectures and workshops and designing educational model ecosystems. 'Desktop' ecosystems, which are sold through mail order catalogs and directly from this website, were developed to provide hands-on experiences with living systems in the classroom. Through the University of Vermont Dr. Todd offers courses and graduate research in ecological design and living technologies and in ecological entrepreneurism in coastal Costa Rica. See:

• Ecological Design & Living Technologies
• Watershed-Based Ecological and Economic Restoration in Costa Rica
• Re-designing the American Neighborhood (external link)

Publications

The main organ of Ocean Arks International is Annals of Earth, which is produced three times a year and is edited by Nancy Jack Todd. Various articles from past Annals are available on this website. Annals is well received as a leading journal in our field. Subscription information is available on this website, as are John and Nancy Jack Todd's books.

Systems for the Two-Thirds World

One of our ultimate objectives is to develop technologies to improve the standard of living in the developing world, without the commonly associated degradation of the environment. The benefits of ecological design for water treatment should be made widely available in the poorest parts of the world. Hence, low cost, simple means of waste management, land reclamation and food production are our principle areas of focus. Our systems are capable of either be driven entirely by the sun or by self-contained wind/solar power units. They aim to use local materials throughout and be simple to build and operate. It is believed these systems will treat pathogens and some viruses as part of their natural processes and will contribute to public health. The China Restorer project is a good example of our work in this field.

Food Producing Constructed Ecosystems and Integrated Urban Agriculture

During the spring of 2003, Ocean Arks successfully gave birth to Advanced Farm Ecosystems! This is a continuation of the work started at the New Alchemy Institute 30 years ago. The objective is to produce food with low inputs of energy and materials using the principles of ecological engineering. A typical example, located here in Burlington, is a small aquaculture system where water rich in nutrients from fish waste is used to produce fish and vegetables for human consumption. A variety of agricultural wastes and worm composting units are used to supply the organic energy for the recirculating aquaculture system. In addition to fish, the system generates botanicals, including vegetables, herbs, flowers and worms and worm castings (valuable compost). Additional research, using inputs from a local brewery, focuses on organic mushroom production, vermiculture and aquaculture. These approaches allow efficient food production on a small scale and have the potential to provide opportunities for peoples with little monetary resources.