Table of Contents
Specification
Introduction
Step 1: Describing the Issue
Sunrise Ranch Stormwater and Waste Water Project Overview (video)
Shifting Paradigms
How We Think About Water (video)
Strategy for Influence
Possible Design (video)
Conclusion
Waste Water Excitement (video)
Process Reflection
Presentation at International Strawbuilders Conference
Digiphon
Annotated Resource Review
Video Dairy 1
Video Dairy 2
Specification
This document is a presentation of the design process that I have undertaken at Sunrise Ranch so far, and a look into the future at a strategy for creating a workable large scale permaculture design. This particular output package focuses primarily on the physical elements of the design and the reasoning and philosophy behind them. The design of the invisible/social structures is addressed in all of my previous output packages and will be highlighted again in future OPs. I also document my process in presenting these ideas to my community, the challenges I have encountered, and my strategy for overcoming them.
To proceed with this document, simply scroll down and read the text and watch the videos in the left column, then jump back up to the top of the right hand column.
Introduction
I learned four years ago that Sunrise Ranch was going to be required by the State of Colorado to upgrade their current waste water system. Ever since then, I have been thinking of ecologically beneficial solutions to this massive “probletunity” (a word used in permaculture which means to see the solution in any problem). At the same time, engineers and decision makers at Sunrise Ranch have been formulating a strategy that will meet the state regulations. Until now, I have remained relatively soft spoken about my own ideas surrounding this project. This output package is my way to fully articulate my design ideas, and share my strategy for how they could be implemented.
The reason I have placed so much emphasis, and have chosen to dedicate an entire output package to the Sunrise Ranch waste water project, is threefold. First, it is a project that is going to cost my community, Sunrise Ranch, about $500,000 and I feel that there may be alternative approaches that have not yet been considered that could potentially save money. This document will bring to light certain alternative systems, and, more importantly, will potentially guide readers into a new way of understanding the project all together. Ultimately, by treating this project as an opportunity to utilize a valuable resource and obtain a yield, rather than as just another maintenance expense, Sunrise has the potential to come out on top, financially, in the long run.
My second reason for dedicating so much time and attention into this project is because it is a keystone element in the entire land plan for Sunrise Ranch. In permaculture, we strive to create a holistic design that takes into consideration water before any other land or infrastructure changes. This waste water project is directly related to another water issue we have at Sunrise Ranch; how storm water flows through the property at times like a bull in a china shop. In my opinion, and I am sure many other design professionals would agree, we ought to first develop a plan for managing waste water and storm water before designing for road access, future structures, permanent garden beds and trees, and even for fencing and pasture layout. For me, much of the rest of the Sunrise Ranch land plan is influenced by on how we precede with the task at hand—the required improvement of our current wastewater system.
The third reason for choosing to focus on this particular project is for its educational value. Not only to I have an incredible opportunity to learn about ecologically generative waste water systems through this embarkation, but, permaculture students from around the world, environmental engineers, teachers, and researchers, could potentially gain from participation in such a project. The site itself could become an educational attraction for Sunrise Ranch if innovative technologies are successfully applied. I can imagine school groups coming out to Sunrise Ranch to learn about a waste water system that generates more net energy than it consumes, is aesthetically pleasing, creates habitat, and on top of all that, provides a useful yield to the same community that produces the “waste” in the first place. Plants used to clean the water could be composted and used as fertilizer, or distilled into fuel, cleaned water could irrigate orchards or pastures, and clean water could feed ponds that grow fish and algae.Step 1: Describing the Issue
The following video is similar to a "sight analysis" in permaculture. It is a presentation that looks closely at the land and describes the basic information pertaining to waste water and storm water at Sunrise Ranch. There is also an explanation of the current proposed system and a few indications of potential alternative systems. I created this video to share with decision makers, stakeholders, and potential design partners so that we can all fully understand the issues at hand.
Sunrise Ranch Stormwater and Waste Water Project Overview
Shifting Paradigms
I was once told regarding this project, “the train has already left the station” and that my efforts to change or influence it are futile. Although this may indeed be the case, I feel a sense of obligation based on the information I have, to share it with those people involved. Essentially, I believe that there is an alternative to the current plan that will save Sunrise Ranch money in the short term based on the cost difference between installing a constructed wetland versus a sequencing batch reactor, as well as in the long term based on the decreased amount of energy needed to operate a gravity-powered constructed wetland compared to a SBR.
If we believe that our waste water is indeed a waste, then we must invest time and energy treating it as such with an end goal of simply neutralizing its detriment to our system. In other words, if our only goals in this project are to satisfy the state regulations and create non-polluted water, than that is all we will get and nothing more.
However, if we perceive our waste water as the valuable resource that it is, then we now are looking at an entirely different issue. We are no longer managing a waste product; we are now contemplating how to best make use of this resource and a plethora of new opportunities arise. I have often joked with people when I describe the issue: “they say they have an overabundance of water and nitrogen; golly what is more valuable to a person trying to create a flourishing ecosystem than water and nitrogen!!!”
More than just yielding nitrogen and water, an ecologically designed water management strategy will yield aesthetic beauty, wildlife habitat, food, fodder, fiber and fuel. Implementing such a design would put Sunrise Ranch on the map when it comes to innovative regenerative communities. It could link us to various Universities as an educational demonstration site for how to best manage community effluent. Ultimately I believe that this project could even earn Sunrise Ranch money in the long run—a completely different approach that what is currently being considered.
In order to have the decision makers at Sunrise Ranch even consider an alternative design I feel they must first understand the basic principles at play when managing water from within the paradigm of permaculture. To aid in this process, I have made the following video/presentation to draw attention to how we think about water on Sunrise Ranch.
How we Think about Water
Strategy for Influence
I realize that although the theory behind my water management strategies may be sound, I greatly lack solid experience in the field of hydrologic engineering and do not intend on designing or implementing these ideas alone. A great deal of expertise and qualifications are needed to manifest a solid plan and bring it into actualization. This is why I would like to integrate our Permaculture Design Course (set to be held in April 2013), with the production of a viable water management design. I would like to invite various permaculture designers who have experience in this area as well as engineers who have worked on similar projects to help begin producing designs that may be considered as alternatives to the current SBR design. In many ways, I have been working on a design for this area of our property for nearly 4 years and feel like the time is ripe to bring in the professional help who may be able to make this a reality. Below is a video that only scratches the surface of what an actual permaculture design for this area of our property might look like. It is by no means final but gives a decent indication of what may be created in early April at our Permaculture Design Course.
Possible Design
Conclusion
Socrates often spoke about virtue and posed the question, “can someone who is not virtuous teach about virtue?” In other words, is it necessary for a teacher to embody the essence of what they are teaching in order to effectively teach it to their students?
There are many places in my personal life where the philosophy of permaculture could be better applied. This hasn’t stopped me from conveying to others the importance of this way of thinking and being in the world. I am running permaculture programs and have come to consider myself a permaculture educator. Just because I have not established a perfect system of my own, does not mean that I am not justified in teaching permaculture to others. Certainly one’s credibility for teaching permaculture increases the more they are able to demonstrate its utility in their own life, but to answer Socrates’ question as it might pertain to permaculture I say “No, a teacher does not need to fully embody the essence of permaculture in order to effectively teach it.”
This being said, there are certain lifestyle choices that a person can make that will positively or negatively influence their reputation as a credible teacher. For example, a person who frequently drives long distances in a gas-guzzling vehicle to buy industrially produced non-organic, non-local food from a store like Wal-Mart will likely be less respected by permaculture students than a person who cares for the soil in their own backyard and grows much of their own food.
We as a community at Sunrise Ranch are facing similar reputation-enhancing or reputation-diminishing choices. We are blessed with an opportunity to greatly impact our land in a way that will be admired by permaculture students, ecologists, conservationists, and put us on the map as a prime site for learning about sustainability and regeneration.
I and many others are working hard to build the educational component of Sunrise Ranch. A fundamental point of agreement is the desire to teach about sustainability and regenerative systems. As we plan for the next ten years of our Community’s growth, I hope to influence the process by bringing the philosophies of permaculture to the attention of my peers, and this document is the first step in achieving this goal.
Waste Water Excitement
Process Reflection
This was a challenging output package for me to create. So much has happened this season and every time I captured a new video or made a new journal entry, I wanted to include it in this output package. In fact, the first draft of this OP included an overview of our Permaculture Work Study Program and all of the things I learned this season and all of the challenges that I overcame and in some cases are still working with. However, I realized that the output package was going to be too big if I tried to include everything so it was a great achievement for me to realize that I could trim it down and focus only on the physical components of the design process.
The PowerPoint presentations were compiled from presentations that I gave either to members of my community or at public speaking events such as the International Strawbuilders Convergence held at Estes Park, Colorado on Sept 20th. I was invited to speak about permaculture and captured the video below.
The use of video in this OP, especially the screen captured video of my PowerPoint presentations is something I am not sure will be received well but it has been the most satisfying way for me to get my ideas out in an articulate way.
Lastly, I feel like I could go on forever tweaking and adding different bits of information. Details about the things that happened in the past or details about my plans for the future are constantly coming to me and the most challenging aspect of creating this OP was coming to a place of satisfaction with the different elements of the main report. Even now I am not certain I have effectively articulated my ideas but I cannot drag this OP out any longer.
Presentation at International Strawbuilders Conference
Digiphon
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word
Flip Video Camera
Youtube
Faststone Video Capture
Google Earth
Google Sketchup
Annotated Resource Review
Fluidyne is the company website where I pulled some pictures of a sequencing batch reactor that I used in my Waste Water Project Overview www.fluidynecorp.com/
Lancaster, Brad. "Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster » Volume 2 Foreword by Andy Lipkis." Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster. N.p., 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. Used in my presentation “How we think about water”
Mollison, B. C. Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. Tyalgum, Australia: Tagari Publications, 1988. Print. I used some pictures from this book in my Waste Water Presentation
Natural Systems International is the name of the company that I proposed as an alternative engineering company and also pulled some pictures for the Waste Water Project Overview video. www.naturalsystemsutilities.com
The International Strawbuilders Conference is where I gave a presentation about Permaculture that I documented in this OP
The Runoff Reduction Method (RRM) was developed in early 2008 by the Center for Watershed Protection and the Chesapeake Stormwater Network as a Compliance tool for the proposed Virginia stormwater regulations. I used this model in my presentation about “how we think about water”
Yeomans, P. A. Water for Every Farm. Sydney: Murray, 1965. Print. This book is where the idea of keyline systems comes from that are used in my waste water presentations
Behind The Scenes
The following section of this output package includes two video diaries in which I am reflecting on my personal process and character development; a rough draft of a presentation shared in the main body of the report; and finally a digiphon in which I indicate the various technologies that I used in the creation of this output package.
Video Diary 1
Video Diary 2
Rough Draft Permaculture Design Ideas
Complete OP3 Self Review
Extended Review of my OP3 by Valerie
Extended Peer's Review of my OP3
Easter Egg
In my "learning intentions and pathway" design document I hid a short video that eludes to some of the pie in the sky ideas that I have had from the start regarding this project. Follow this link and scroll to the very bottom of the page where you will find the video.
Comments
Patrick Padden
18 November 2014, 12:23
Attachments (3)