APPLYING DESIGN THINKING TO NEW AQUAPONIC SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT INCLUDING THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW PRINCIPLES SIMILAR TO PAS/IPRS (PARTITIONED AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS/IN POND RACEWAY SYSTEMS)

The advent of small aquaponics systems suitable for backyards like those described in the Food and Agriculture Organizations manual, "Small Scale Aquaponic Food Production" inspired a revolution in Aquaculture that may not have been technically feasible before, at least in the United States: The creation of thousands of small aquatic farms scattered across the nations rural and urban backyards. One significant complaint that could limit expansion of these small systems to new users is the perception they are expensive and complex to operate.

One process that may address this issue is Design Thinking (DT). Design Thinking is an approach to innovation that works to integrate the potential of technology and the requirements for economic success with the needs of people.

A method of Recirculating Aquaculture (RAS) that has improved the efficiency of commercial catfish culture, Partitioned Aquaculture Systems (PAS) sequester fish within a small area of a pond that is partitioned from the rest and supplied with a high flow of pumped water. The remainder of the pond serves as a growing area for bacteria that facilitate nitrification and algae to uptake nutrients and provide oxygen. In Pond Raceway Systems (IPRS) is a subset of PAS where the fish are separated into small specially designed raceways placed or floated within a pond or other body of water.

This work describes how Design Thinking was used in a recent new Aquaponic system design project focused on reducing cost and complexity, and the pros and cons of the DT process that were encountered including: The requirement for prototyping encouraged refinement of the design to create increased social, economic and environmental benefits; for example the advantages of developing and applying new RAS principles to aquaponics similar to PAS/IPRS. Conversely, the need in agriculture to study preferably multiples of each prototype often over multiple growing seasons significantly increased developmental time and cost.