Don fabricates high precision aqua culture system

A graduate assistant at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi, Faisal Sani Bala, and his colleagues have set out to revolutionize fish farming and other aquaculture practices through their new technology. The technology called Sarkin Ruwa Re-Circulatory Aquaculture System (SRAS), according to Faisal, was an idea mooted in 2014 when it was introduced as […]

A graduate assistant at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi, Faisal Sani Bala, and his colleagues have set out to revolutionize fish farming and other aquaculture practices through their new technology.
The technology called Sarkin Ruwa Re-Circulatory Aquaculture System (SRAS), according to Faisal, was an idea mooted in 2014 when it was introduced as an entry in an engineering design competition, organised by an American company, National Instruments tagged ‘NI Innovative Design Competition’ which focused on designs for Africa which could be used to solve local problems.
Faisal, who attended the University of East London and presently a lecturer with the Department of Mechatronics ATBU, said that his experience in fish farming pushed him and his friends to come up with the invention.
Together with Aliyu Dala Bukari who attended University of Manchester, Ahmad Garba, Yakubu Shehu and Aminu Wunti, they submitted the SRAS as an entry and it came second in the competition.
Faisal said the SRAS is set out to address challenges in fish farming and aquaculture generally.
He added that the invention will address the need to provide clean, stable and well oxygenated water for fishes and other aquatic animals that are raised in water.
Faisal said the system will also address the issue of low or high temperature, PH and lack of dissolved oxygen which affects yield, especially in the case of fish.
He said it will address the issue of need to change water intermittently as the system recycles the water through replenishing the elements needed for the water to become pure again which he said will help reduce water wastage especially in places where the supply of water is limited.
 
How it works
The SRAS, according to its inventors, is designed to monitor all the necessary fish requirements like temperature, dissolve oxygen and PH using sophisticated sensors.
According to its brief operation details,  when any of the requirements becomes low, the system will intervene using an embedded microcomputer system which determines the amount of what is required.
The system will then instantly trigger the filtration sequence of dissolved oxygen aeration and other processes which will enable the fish to live under the optimal condition which will make it grow and increase yield.
“We have already tested it and we have seen the prospects from the results we have seen so far. There are so many prospects for our farmers in this system and we hope that it will revolutionise our fish farming sector and provide more employment for our youths through fish farming,” he added.
One interesting feature of the system according to Faisal was that the system utilises software which can be monitored through an enabled mobile phone by the farmer.
Faisal also said that the SRAS have been improved from the original design as they have introduced a way to kill harmful microbes in the water so that the fish remain healthy.