True. It would be much harder to do once it is in a perpetually wet state. Still, I don't see how that's much different than what the OP has proposed. You might have to be the tester and report back to everyone how it went.
I am going to build a small system and test the OP has given me the idea of trying it.I still in the design stage and gathering the material need
Thank you for your interest in our project. The project was to see if we could grow greens from biologically processed manure; and the project was a success. Because we achieved our goal, we've not added further posts. That being said; the results were great for the endemically poor families we work with, in Asia. However, the greens were stunted in comparison to what a person might expect in a U.S. grocery store. While they were healthy and quite nutritious, they were about 1/2 the size of their potential. Now we are adding small amounts of iron chelate, calcium, and magnesium, and achieving great results. For a person like you, who is interested in this technology, I would encourage you to try the experiment. It will reduce your nutrient expenses.
There is a misconception that one might be able to "throw manure" into your hydroponic system and grow great plants. The fact is that the bio-reactor converts manure ammonia into nitrates, and the process removes pathogens. You might be able to throw manure by-products (such as "drippings") into your hydro and get plants to grow, but you're also risking a number of health concerns; let alone the horrendous smell. The bio-conversion process removes the bacteria that produce the manure stench. I'd rather discourage you from using manure in hydro, if you don't bio-process it first. BTW, our design is complicated, because we engineered it to be low maintenance. I know of 5 individuals around the world that are using our same principles, but with much simpler designs. The downside of their designs is that it requires more maintenance, with the added benefit of costing less to implement. If you are to make a go of this for yourself, I would recommend using a low-cost, simpler design until you are confident and want to make the greater investment.
And so then we go full circle to my assertion that it's probably not worth the effort given that you can achieve reasonably similar results with less work.
Depends on the circumstances and purpose for growing. If you're growing some tomatoes in your backyard for your family, in most US regions, of course, it would be overkill to design an AP system. However, if you're growing to support your family's daily produce needs 100%, 365, or to sell products in the market, the HP and AP systems are much more efficient. The evidence is in the fact that commercial growers are moving to both HP and AP.
