50000 square feet. Colorado Legal rec grow

[medcalstdnt]

I've read this great thread several times but never figured out where the drain to waste water actually drained to.

It seems straight to the floor, but I didn't notice any floor drains in the pics and I can't imagine they just had pools of water all over the floor, plus in the majority of the pics the floor is completely dry and not water stained.

How was drainage handled?

 

[Yodaweed]

what dispensary do you work for @Merlin34 , i live in colorado and would like to see what your final product looks like.

 

[ttystikk]

I've read this great thread several times but never figured out where the drain to waste water actually drained to.

It seems straight to the floor, but I didn't notice any floor drains in the pics and I can't imagine they just had pools of water all over the floor, plus in the majority of the pics the floor is completely dry and not water stained.

How was drainage handled?

They don't drain to waste. Excess nutrient accumulates in the coco substrate, they throw it away every run and use fresh. They haul in coco by the semi full. Not exactly environmentally sound, but Boulder County prohibits them from pouring nutrient water down the drain so it's the only solution left.

 

[medcalstdnt]

They don't drain to waste. Excess nutrient accumulates in the coco substrate, they throw it away every run and use fresh. They haul in coco by the semi full. Not exactly environmentally sound, but Boulder County prohibits them from pouring nutrient water down the drain so it's the only solution left.

Somewhere earlier in the thread, Merlin answers a question and says they do drain to waste coco, which is my preferred method. I have always associated DTW as having a 15%-ish off-flow, hence the drain to waste, that's why I was looking for drains or water on the floor.

So I guess they're actually just watering? Still there has got to be some spillage, especially when they move to drip feed as not every plant has the same uptake, and container, the same holding capacity or absorption rate.

Regardless, even the visible floor between the containers looked especially clean. Unless they're constantly lifting the pots off the floor and wet vac'ing or sweeping between them, I don't know how it continues to look so tidy.

EDIT: What do they do if they need to flush?

I've spent more $ and time designing and building DTW capture systems for large-ish grows than I care to contemplate. So I guess I was hoping that there was some secret I was missing in the pictures.

I didn't know about that law about dumping nutrient water down the drain. I like that. It's always been a pet peeve of mine, dumping all that stuff into the water supply. That's how you get algae blooms and contaminated drinking water, especially in the more rural grows; runoff gets dumped into septic systems or pumped into streams.

BTW: I actually just finished reading an older, long thread about cmh that you spent a lot of time in. Lot's of interesting back and forth and I learned a lot about led's there from your posts. I'm currently contracted to do a 144 plant build, caregiver plant count restrictions account for the peculiar number, and you almost had me convinced to try some of the cob led's in lieu of the 315's I usually like to run for veg..
Not for a client, but maybe I'll try some in a smaller personal grow. Thanks for spreading the knowledge.

 

[ttystikk]

Somewhere earlier in the thread, Merlin answers a question and says they do drain to waste coco, which is my preferred method. I have always associated DTW as having a 15%-ish off-flow, hence the drain to waste, that's why I was looking for drains or water on the floor.

So I guess they're actually just watering? Still there has got to be some spillage, especially when they move to drip feed as not every plant has the same uptake, and container, the same holding capacity or absorption rate.

Regardless, even the visible floor between the containers looked especially clean. Unless they're constantly lifting the pots off the floor and wet vac'ing or sweeping between them, I don't know how it continues to look so tidy.

EDIT: What do they do if they need to flush?

I've spent more $ and time designing and building DTW capture systems for large-ish grows than I care to contemplate. So I guess I was hoping that there was some secret I was missing in the pictures.

I didn't know about that law about dumping nutrient water down the drain. I like that. It's always been a pet peeve of mine, dumping all that stuff into the water supply. That's how you get algae blooms and contaminated drinking water, especially in the more rural grows; runoff gets dumped into septic systems or pumped into streams.

BTW: I actually just finished reading an older, long thread about cmh that you spent a lot of time in. Lot's of interesting back and forth and I learned a lot about led's there from your posts. I'm currently contracted to do a 144 plant build, caregiver plant count restrictions account for the peculiar number, and you almost had me convinced to try some of the cob led's in lieu of the 315's I usually like to run for veg..
Not for a client, but maybe I'll try some in a smaller personal grow. Thanks for spreading the knowledge.

Let me know if I can help. I've been doing the basic research for years now.

 

[Bakersfield]

They don't drain to waste. Excess nutrient accumulates in the coco substrate, they throw it away every run and use fresh. They haul in coco by the semi full. Not exactly environmentally sound, but Boulder County prohibits them from pouring nutrient water down the drain so it's the only solution left.

I would hate to deal with the accumulated salts they're coco must contain without runoff.
If they were allowed to they could install drains and have they're excess waste flow into evaporative containment ponds used on rotation. Once dried it could be collected and recycled.

If I lived around them, I'd try and get they're used coco, especially by the semi trailer full. Let it wash out for a season or two and it would make a great soil amendment for my vegetable garden.
I would imagine someone is doing this so it's not as environmentally unsound as it sounds. I mean bakers buy spent grains from the brewery for bread making, I don't see why they wouldn't be allowed to do that.

 

[ttystikk]

I would hate to deal with the accumulated salts they're coco must contain without runoff.
If they were allowed to they could install drains and have they're excess waste flow into evaporative containment ponds used on rotation. Once dried it could be collected and recycled.

If I lived around them, I'd try and get they're used coco, especially by the semi trailer full. Let it wash out for a season or two and it would make a great soil amendment for my vegetable garden.
I would imagine someone is doing this so it's not as environmentally unsound as it sounds. I mean bakers buy spent grains from the brewery for bread making, I don't see why they wouldn't be allowed to do that.

Used dry nutrient salts are not an organic byproduct. That said, such a use would be much better than the landfill and I hope they do something like that.

 

[|3E@Losetgreenz]

Using Rockwool as a medium and highpressure constant drip with regular flushing has very little nitrite runoff as compared to low pressure interval drip methods. What little runoff is generated is reused as secondary feed solutions for landscape irrigation and leached Into a sealed water table system. Drainage is collected treated and approved for reclamation. Just planting seeds...cough(highpressure constant drip)...

 

[medcalstdnt]

I would hate to deal with the accumulated salts they're coco must contain without runoff.
If they were allowed to they could install drains and have they're excess waste flow into evaporative containment ponds used on rotation. Once dried it could be collected and recycled.

If I lived around them, I'd try and get they're used coco, especially by the semi trailer full. Let it wash out for a season or two and it would make a great soil amendment for my vegetable garden.
I would imagine someone is doing this so it's not as environmentally unsound as it sounds. I mean bakers buy spent grains from the brewery for bread making, I don't see why they wouldn't be allowed to do that.

I really do think that there is great potential for utilizing many of the byproducts from this hobby/business/industry.

When they changed the laws in my state to be hostile to small growers/caregivers, I spent a lot of time looking for alternate revenue streams from this ever expanding, I dunno, THING, that is happening now.

I came up with a number of ideas, mostly surrounding the implications regarding water quality from our wastage, but I keep getting side tracked by all of the new projects coming online. Though I do continue to reserve a bit of mental space for possible solutions going forward.

Anyway, I'll stop hijacking this thread with my obsessions about water.

 

[|3E@Losetgreenz]

I really do think that there is great potential for utilizing many of the byproducts from this hobby/business/industry.

When they changed the laws in my state to be hostile to small growers/caregivers, I spent a lot of time looking for alternate revenue streams from this ever expanding, I dunno, THING, that is happening now.

I came up with a number of ideas, mostly surrounding the implications regarding water quality from our wastage, but I keep getting side tracked by all of the new projects coming online. Though I do continue to reserve a bit of mental space for possible solutions going forward.

Anyway, I'll stop hijacking this thread with my obsessions about water.

Please pester me...I'm a hydrologic junkie...getting worse all the time...I am constantly researching "water table and contaminate management".. i come from a farm family..we know our water...I'm also from the desert..always glad to offer advice and help.

 

[medcalstdnt]

such a use would be much better than the landfill and I hope they do something like that.

I do hope you're right; otherwise they're dumping tons and tons of super hot rootballs into a concentrated space with 'burn water' leaching and runoff for years to come. EDIT: not saying that many growers/most of us didn't contribute to it ourselves all of these years, but the scale of it all now, kinda makes you think.

Though who knows? Maybe it'll finally add some flavor to that Coors and the, seemingly anemic, mountain water they claim to use. funny?

 

[|3E@Losetgreenz]

I do hope you're right; otherwise they're dumping tons and tons of super hot rootballs into a concentrated space with 'burn water' leaching and runoff for years to come.

Though who knows? Maybe it'll finally add some flavor to that Coors and the, apparently anemic, mountain water they claim to use.

A simple cannabis operation.. produces roughly 1/10 a lil less..of the nitrate runoff that even a small scale agricultural production facility does in a year's time. Cannabis was used after chernoble to reduce radiation fallout exposure to soils surrounding the impact area to reduce contamination to the water table. It's known as a "accumulative plant" it retains a lot of what it can consume.
Besides I'm from Colorado too..fraking in the east has destroyed ALOT of our water table.

 

[medcalstdnt]

A simple cannabis operation.. produces roughly 1/10 a lil less..of the nitrate runoff that even a small scale agricultural production facility does in a year's time... "accumulative plant" it retains a lot of what it can consume.
Besides I'm from Colorado too..fraking in the east has destroyed ALOT of our water table.

I understand what you are saying, but a very large % of the harvested plant, in the case of growing for flower, is returned to, wherever growers dump their shit.

That includes the root systems inside those root balls, the stems and stalks, the constant stream of trimmings and fan leaves, etc.. It doesn't matter if it is an accumulative plant when it just gets dumped back into the environment when we are done with it's main structure and weight.

To be clear, an environment that didn't originally contain all of those salts in concentration at a specific and concentrated point. It's not like it all gets distributed evenly across the globe when the vegetative matter has decomposed. It's just gonna be a pile of hot soil that will affect the area around it for a pretty long time.

you're right. fraking sucks

 

[ttystikk]

I understand what you are saying, but a very large % of the harvested plant, in the case of growing for flower, is returned to, wherever growers dump their shit.

That includes the root systems inside those root balls, the stems and stalks, the constant stream of trimmings and fan leaves, etc.. It doesn't matter if it is an accumulative plant when it just gets dumped back into the environment when we are done with it's main structure and weight.

To be clear, an environment that didn't originally contain all of those salts in concentration at a specific and concentrated point. It's not like it all gets distributed evenly across the globe when the vegetative matter has decomposed. It's just gonna be a pile of hot soil that will affect the area around it for a pretty long time.

you're right. fraking sucks

Not exactly; once those salts have been absorbed into plant form, they're now 'organic' and compost friendly.

 

[|3E@Losetgreenz]

Not exactly; once those salts have been absorbed into plant form, they're now 'organic' and compost friendly.

Yup...transformation...nature at its finest.

 

[|3E@Losetgreenz]

I understand what you are saying, but a very large % of the harvested plant, in the case of growing for flower, is returned to, wherever growers dump their shit.

That includes the root systems inside those root balls, the stems and stalks, the constant stream of trimmings and fan leaves, etc.. It doesn't matter if it is an accumulative plant when it just gets dumped back into the environment when we are done with it's main structure and weight.

To be clear, an environment that didn't originally contain all of those salts in concentration at a specific and concentrated point. It's not like it all gets distributed evenly across the globe when the vegetative matter has decomposed. It's just gonna be a pile of hot soil that will affect the area around it for a pretty long time.

you're right. fraking sucks

It's all about molecular bonds and how their structures interact with each other.
Biological interactions take place between cells in both humans and plants which turns materials into energy at a cellular level' sometimes with absolutely no by-product except spent energy.
Decomposition rate of any material is a factor.

 

[Yodaweed]

A simple cannabis operation.. produces roughly 1/10 a lil less..of the nitrate runoff that even a small scale agricultural production facility does in a year's time. Cannabis was used after chernoble to reduce radiation fallout exposure to soils surrounding the impact area to reduce contamination to the water table. It's known as a "accumulative plant" it retains a lot of what it can consume.
Besides I'm from Colorado too..fraking in the east has destroyed ALOT of our water table.

The air force base in colorado springs was dumping PFCs into the water supply. There's a class action law suit here.

http://www.hannonlaw.com/news/security-widefield-fountain-water-contamination/

Really kinda sad how the world is now.

 

[|3E@Losetgreenz]

The air force base in colorado springs was dumping PFCs into the water supply. There's a class action law suit here.

http://www.hannonlaw.com/news/security-widefield-fountain-water-contamination/

Really kinda sad how the world is now.

Wow.. direct ethical disregard and ignorant way to solve an issue.

Crazy man...good read thankyou

Yeah they tried that Pinon canyon expansion years back around the parts were i stay east of pueblo...thank God it didn't pass.

 

[medcalstdnt]

Not exactly; once those salts have been absorbed into plant form, they're now 'organic' and compost friendly.

Sorry, it was late when I wrote that and it seems to not be making any sense as I read it now.
I had two separate thoughts going that I seem to have threaded together.

The root balls being the source of concentrated salts and hot spots and the biomatter dumped in contractor trash bags along with empty nutrient containers and especially toxic leftovers like eagle20, avid, & etc. bottles being the other issue.

Musta been high.

 

[ttystikk]

Sorry, it was late when I wrote that and it seems to not be making any sense as I read it now.
I had two separate thoughts going that I seem to have threaded together.

The root balls being the source of concentrated salts and hot spots and the biomatter dumped in contractor trash bags along with empty nutrient containers and especially toxic leftovers like eagle20, avid, & etc. bottles being the other issue.

Musta been high.

Colorado commerical cannabis operations don't use Avid, Eagle 20, etc or their meds would fail lab testing and would be destroyed.

What's left in the rootball could easily be recycled into topsoil for all kinds of alternative uses. I sincerely hope there is such a program in existence.