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Built a vortex compost brewer

I was searching the net the other day for compost brewers, and found a company in the U.S. that talks about a Vortex Compost Brewer.

Ended up finding a video, you can see it here.

Anyway, I looked at it, and thought that can't be hard. So I bought a 44 gallon plastic barrel for $20, a 45W air pump for $53 and then got the associated pvc pipes and fittings to make the thing.

I'm just on holidays at the moment in another state, but when I get home I'll be able to take it for a test run and take a video of it all. It's such a simple design, and really just uses the concept of air lift pumps with 4 outlets facing the same direction to create a vortex motion.

Hopefully my compost teas are better now they should get a lot more oxygen during the brew process.
 
It looks really interesting please let us know how it goes. I would be interested in building one myself. Where did you get the air pump from.
 
It looks really interesting please let us know how it goes. I would be interested in building one myself. Where did you get the air pump from.

Ebay. It's an electromagnetic pump that should be able to pump about 50LPM.

I didn't actually drill a hole in the middle like the design in that video, as I didn't want to raise the barrel off the floor. Instead we punched 4 individual holes for the 4 pvc pipes. This probably means we won't get a true vortex motion as the water won't be sucked down into a single outlet, but I should still get the circular motion which is what I was looking for.
 
How is it really different than brewing/aireating a compost tea? It looks as if it just uses a Bernoulli Air Lift principle, which is the same as running a sub-gravel filter in a fishtank, or what is used in Water-Farm hydroponic buckets.

My problem with the site is when they start talking the new-agey vibrations stuff. I would have liked to see some real lab analysis of this...



The Vortex Brewer is more than a compost tea brewer, it is a dynamic flow form. By allowing water to take its natural vortexial flow it is made vulnerable to the subtle vibrational energies manifest in all physical substance. This is the backbone of biodynamic agriculture, homeopathy, and nature in general.The Vortex Brewer is shipped complete, ready to begin spinning your favorite compost tea brews or nutrient creations.

  • Generally, counterclockwise circulation will reinforce root/earth forces. Use this direction when working with transplants, seeding, or working with preparing the soil.
  • counterclockwise = female =earthly =rooting / soil
  • Generally, clockwise circulation will reinforce leaf/stem/flower/seed/fruit. Use this direction when intending to encourage flowering and fruit maturation.
  • clockwise = male = cosmic = flower / fruit
  • If you have to pick one direction to perpetually run your Vortex Brewer, run it counterclockwise to resonate with the counterclockwise coriolis in the N. hemisphere.
  • In NO WAY can you use the direction incorrectly, this is strictly a "better / best" analysis.
 
I didn't buy into the marketing crap. I just liked the design, and I believe it should help reduce the froth I've been getting spilling over the top of my previous setup which just had a bucket and a 4 outlet air pump with air stones plonked into the base of the bucket.
 
You're down under and the vortex mfg is not.....vortex will form in the opposite direction where you live.....remember this when you build one.

There's also a lot of poop physics in the video, but it should mix liquids well.
 
I went down to a very knowledgeable guy yesterday who knows quite a bit about microbes symbiotic relationship with soil and plants.

Turns out that it's really agitation you are looking for, as the agitation helps form the fungi spores. With compost teas, you either make a bacterial dominated tea, or a fungi dominated tea, with either beneficial for different applications.

It also seems my 45W pump might not be big enough to create the required agitation, but I'm just a hobbyist, so I'll see how it works and look to upgrade the pump if necessary.
 
How is it really different than brewing/aireating a compost tea? It looks as if it just uses a Bernoulli Air Lift principle, which is the same as running a sub-gravel filter in a fishtank, or what is used in Water-Farm hydroponic buckets.

My problem with the site is when they start talking the new-agey vibrations stuff. I would have liked to see some real lab analysis of this...


I don't buy any of what they are saying. I really don't see how making the water go in a circle is really going to improve the airation of the tea. Plus do you really need to brew 15 gallons of tea at once? I mean I brew 5 gallons every other week and it's more than enough. I think the investment in a 45w air pump is worth it, but other than that I don't buy that spinning the water in a cirlce is going to re-align the universe. I would also invest in a heater as the bacteria grows faster at higher temps. I put in a 100 watt heater in my brew and keep the temp at around 72 and I noticed my brew would use up all the molasis and fish compound in about 12 hours instead of 24. I also don't like the froth, but a lid fixed that problem.
 
Here are 2 pics I took while doing a quick 12 hour brew before I had to fly out for work:

IMG_0935%5B1%5D.JPG

IMG_0937%5B2%5D.JPG


I didn't get a swirling motion like I expected, but the air lift pump motion did work. I suspect that I need a bigger pump, might go get an 80W pump instead of the 45W I'm using. Anything bigger than that might start to become cost prohibitive.
 
Scrap that, just found a 200W pump that does 170LPM (litres per minute) for $80. The 45W I have at the moment cost me $52 and only does 50 LPM, so should make a dramatic difference.

Will test it out on the weekend again, plan on brewing for 36 hours to try and get some fungi happening to use as a soil drench. Wish I had a microscope to evaluate how my tea is actually going after its ready.
 
Cool, it's sure oxygenating, but it would be great to get a vortex going. I bet having a taper would help, but hopefully it's not necessary. One thing that has me confused is the airline that looks like it's running in and out of the brew. Is that the same line and just dips in, or it is doing something different?
 
I still don't get the importance of the "Vortex" how is having the water going in a circle going to improve the brew?
 
I still don't get the importance of the "Vortex" how is having the water going in a circle going to improve the brew?

Even without bubbles, water near the surface absorbs oxygen. The vortex increases the surface area and churns the water so it comes in contact with much more air than would be possible otherwise.
 
Looks cool, but i'm still not sold on the "vortex" concept being better then the bubbling one. I guess that's a question I'll have to ask my buddy who works for JPL.
 
Looks cool, but i'm still not sold on the "vortex" concept being better then the bubbling one. I guess that's a question I'll have to ask my buddy who works for JPL.

What's the JPL going to know about this? This is a hydrology type of question not jet propulsion. ;)
Logically looking at it I would say he is right because in a vortex the total surface area is going to increase as the water is no longer flat but is funnel shaped.
 
Or you could just make the "brewer" flatter. Instead of a 5gal brewer 18inches high make it 8 inches high. Add a bubbler and you got all the surface area oxygeny goodness you can stand.
 
I still don't get the importance of the "Vortex" how is having the water going in a circle going to improve the brew?

The reasons I saw on the video for one of the vortex machines I totally disagree with.
They are talking like spinning the water creates "energy" as in eastern mysticism zen type of thing.
Sorry but that is just one step above voodoo in my humble opinion. :rolleyes:
That reminds me of martial arts talking about your internal power (ie "Ki" in the Korean Martial Arts like I studied). Yeah sure. :lol:
 
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