Basic methods for Jaque sequential batch anaerobic digester
By Douglas Renk
This unit is designed to hold shredded organic wastes. We used leaves, grass clippings and about 10-15 percent pig manure from the nearby farm.
Starting up a batch
Use the bags we made from fish netting to line the tanks. The bags are intended for easy containment and hoisting of the spent compost at the end of the 4 week cycle.. There were 4 bags stitched together when I was there. Some really nice netting vanished from the store room at fe y Alegria when I was there- sorry I don’t have more there. (looks like it would make some nice hammocks) I could maybe send Ana Maria with some more fabric from the US if the bags are beyond repair. The bags are not absolutely necessary- they were made (we intended) to assist in handling the material.
Julio and I built an A frame structure over the tanks and I sent some pulleys from Panama City to use to hoist the heavy bags out. I don’t know if the pulleys were ever installed to the heavy wood frame made from large post beams.
We loaded the material- leaves, grass, manure and sometimes sawdust or wood chips from the furniture shop in layers. Put a few cups of wood ash in the layers. You may be surprised how much material it takes to fill the 100 gallon tank. Tie off the top and fill the tank about ¾ full of water- no more as the water can expand when ”carbonated: in the first (acetogenid) stage. We discovered this to be a problem when we filled too full with water and the liquid was coming through the top gas valve when we opened it- (not good). Surprise!
The first batch is the most difficult because there is an acidic first stage that can destroy a bacteria culture if not corrected in time. IT will actually ferment or “pickle” If you have a pH meter it would be very useful. I can send some pH strips with Ana Maria. We left some pH test kits with the system last year with indicator drops for solutions.
With subsequent batches, you may recycle the leachate from the first stable batch to both inoculate the material with the culture you have established and to neutralize the pH. I will see if I can find a bilge type pump to send for this recycling. The rotary pump we used last year was very hard to turn. See pictures.
The best local source of material to buffer these acids (caused from what is known as the acetogenic bacteria) is wood ashes. We went to various folks who cook with fire and asked to keep them dry for us. Test the ph of the ashes ( a little in solution)- I think it is very high-depending on concentration.
Last year we added about two pounds of wood ashes at start-up. We allowed the grass to dry out before loading into the tank. It packs better and water in the material does not produce gas. There might be some baking soda left over from last year also- but he ashes work fine and are “free”. Check the pH once or twice a day for this first and most critical batch. If more ash is needed we found the only easy way to introduce the ash to the digester was to take the lid off and pour ir on top- followed by water recirculation from bottom to top.
To do a pH test all you need to do is draw a little water from a ball valve. Often we would find different pH values at he top and the bottom. We would try to recirculate the liquid from the bottom to the top to get the leachate to dissolve the ash.
Making a slurry of inoculum
Julio and I collected some organic samples from areas likely to contain microbes decomposing in the absence of air. We went to a ditch at the end of a muddy swale along he road near the elementary school. There we extracted a few shovelfuls of mud from below the water level. We dug to the bottom of the pig manure pile and also the bottom of the compost heap at fe y Alegria, taking a couple of scoops from each area and mixing them together in a five gallon bucket and covering with water. I think this was helpful for the quick results we obtained, but some sources I’ve read say that this inoculation step is not critical, that anaerobic bacterium is ubiquitous in organic wastes.
This process is only needed for the very initial batch due to the ability to introduce liquid from one tank to another by way of the upper and lower ball valves with hose connections. See pictures.
Sealing the lids
This proved to be the most difficult part of the project. If the tanks are not leak-tight, then no gas will be collected and oxygen will get into the tank.
We used a borrowed bicycle pump and a short piece of the clear gas line tubing as a coupler over the tire pump end and into the top gas valve to pump air under pressure to test for air escaping. After pumping, we would lightly pour water from the hose over the lid and look for tiny air bubbles.. This method worked. Here in the US we use a pressure gauge plumbed into one of the PVC ball valves and watch the gauge needle to see if it remains absolutely constant at 5-10 psi. I don’t think this system can handle pressure much any higher than that. When we used the tire pump, I think we went a little beyond 10-15 PSI-
The tanks were built to be water cisterns, not pressure tanks, but they still worked quite well with some creative sealing. The lids are about a little larger than 20 inches. We used strips of rubber from 20 inch bicycle inner tubes to use as large o-ring sealing gaskets. I sent several down from PC to Julio on my last shipment before I left for the US. I also sent some Perma-Tex and axle grease. I really hope this is all there still.
The pieces of inner tubes were cut about 2 inches wide and length-wise to get. I think, two o-rings out of each inner tube. There was a store in Jaque that did have some more inner tubes when we were there. The o-rings stretched nicely around the top of the tank. We pushed some plastic shopping bags under the edge of the rubber seal on the tank side to puff up the rubber to make a nice thick rubber cushion. I hope there is at least one of these still set up like that for you to see how we rigged it. The permatex was sent to make a good seal around the rubber gaskets at all of the valves. Use it thick there if you need it. You will see three valves on each tank: two plastic PVC ball valves to drain, fill and recirculate leachate liquid plus one metal ball valve for the gas flow. See picture.
The axle grease is used to seal the treads of the lid. Simply apply a thick layer of grease to the threads.
Heating the reactors
Our crude local technology method to heat was to use composting grass as a blanket around the tanks. It seemed to work well. This can be experimented with and refined if necessary. This material should be maintained to the height of the second valve. See picture. Ideal temperature is about 35-38C, the same as our body temperature. The grass keeps the tanks warm at night. See photos.
Gas Collection
We used a series of inner tubes. Ideally we wanted four tubes for each tank, but at $20.00 per tube, we were short a few. I sent more tubes to Jaque again on the last shipment. I think there would be a total of 8 large inner tubes. When we set up the tanks, we linked all of the gas tubes together with the small clear tubing.
As new tank batches were started, we kept one particular tube for a newly started batch separate until we knew for certain that the gas had produced the proper percentage of methane to hold a lit flame. To test for methane content, we simply tested by seeing if the gas would light. Once the gas in the tube would burn, then that tube can be linked in with the othe
r full tubes.
Data that is useful for students to record
Total weight of solids before and after
Amount of wood ash used to neutralize solution.
Cubic feet or liters of gas produced. May need to estimate volume of the tires.
Note the day after start-up on which the gas began to maintain a flame. It should hold a flame after three to four days, but don’t be surprised if it takes almost a week for the first batch. Gas that doesn’t burn may be high in CO2. Check pH, it should be neutral.
We would like to thank our amazing performers for volunteering their time and talent to BRIDGES and Viva La Mujer
Kathy Sohar has been in the local Gainesville bands Commander Foxy Pants, Bound, and The Other Gods.
Cathy DeW: Brought up in a family with a jazz pianist/trumpeter for a dad and a classical piano prodigy for a brother, Cathy’s constant lifelong companion has been music–from church choirs to rhythm & blues bands to coffeehouse folk to jazz groups–but the most important role of music right now is her work with Shands Arts in Medicine, where she shares her eclectic talents in the hospital setting.
SAND TEARS OF THE DESERT WAYUU:
To commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the Bahia Portete massacre
Lágrimas de arena del desierto WAYUU (click here for Spanish version)
Between the 18th and 20th of April in the “Media Luna” sacred territory of the Wayuu people, located in La Guajira, we gathered for the second Yanama in memory of the massacre that occurred in Bahia Portete in April of 2004 at the hands of paramilitaries. To this event came the ONIC organization, other indigenous of Colombia, national and international NGOs, human rights organizations, environmentalists and unions, at which we shared meals, drinks, customs, hopes, the sea, the landscape, and the strength and magic of our territory. The objective of this encounter was to accompany the survivors of the massacre and share solidarity with all the Wayuu people in their struggle and determination that the victims of this massacre not be forgotten and that there not be impunity for the perpetrators.
This genocidal act was perpetrated by the paramilitary structure headed by Rodrigo Tovar “Pupo,” known as Jorge 40, assisted by Chemna Bala, Josemaria Ipuana, and his nephew Adrian Agustin Bernier.
This massacre killed women, children, young people, men, and elders, and the survivors have been forced to live outside their ancestral territory and outside the country to reside in Venezuela. But we are not renouncing our intent to return to our salty land. We thirst and hope to again feel the winds of the sea in our own desert land.
The barbarism against the Wayuu has not stopped, even though the zone has been militarized under the excuse of protecting this town and despite the promise of Colombian 
Vice-President Santos that he will not allow one single more death to the members of this community. Yet, the government continues to turn a blind eye to the murders that have occurred after the massacre. Such is the case of Edilia Epinayuu, one of the witnesses of the massacre and murdered by the paramilitaries on the 13th of July of the year 2005. The government refuses to acknowledge the complicity of the military and paramilitaries that we were able to observe and it does not have ears to listen to the threats that are raised constantly against the Wayuu people and its leaders. In the zone of this scene of torture, where the Colombian military is posted to “take care of” the houses, where torture rape and death occurred in the middle of the burning desert of salt and sand, appeared vulgar graffiti reminders of the acts of rape and other crimes that were committed against a dignified people. We also saw recently made threats written on the walls against their leader, Debora Barros Fince, who has fought to assure that the horrible acts committed against her people be not forgotten or fall in impunity.
Though the massacre occurred two years ago, there continues to be exerted physical, moral and psychological violence against this town, without intervention by the government forces purported to protect it. In this visit to Bahia Portete, the participants to the Yanama encounter were able to observe that, in the area controlled by the government, the indigenous houses are being destroyed and roofs, water tanks and doors are being dismantled. With this action the government attempts to erase the memory of the landscape and dwellings from the minds of the people.
THE UPROOTING OF THE WAYUU PEOPLE AND THE LOSS IN TOTALITY OF THEIR TERRITORY IS A REAL AND GRAVE SITUATION. Only four families still live in Bahia Portete. The process of return of the displaced people, promoted by the vice president of the republic, Francisco Santos in 2004, was a false return where people who were not from the area at all were brought only for public relation purposes, to give a false appearance of return by the victims.
Also of grave concern is the presence of the multinational mining corporations, Glencore, Anglo American, and BHP Billiton that have been exploiting the resources of the Guajira for the last twenty years, removing the coal from the heart of the Mother Earth, without benefiting in any way the indigenous people. This multinational conglomerate formed when they purchased the “rights” from Hillock in 2002, which was then operated by Exxon. Though the government offers no guarantee of security for the return of our Wayuu people, these mining activities have been the justification of militarization of the ancestral territory by the Colombian Army, who protects the mining interests such as infrastructure. In Media Luna, for one example, they have installed barb wire around the territory and the indigenous people can not walk freely and cannot visit their cemetery. The military has not been able to protect the Wayuu but the wall of iron protects foreign interests.
The participants in this Yanama gathering shared with us the tears of the women, the breakers of the sea that broke in our hearts as the waves did on the beaches, the breakers of sea that in each tide approached and washed away the memories of their parents, children, grandsons, spouses, brothers. We went to claim the rights of the Wayuu people to feel the breezes of the sea in their own desert home and so that the infamous history of death, torture and disappearance perpetrated by the paramilitary in the territory of the Wayuu is not left in forgetfulness and impunity; so that the transnational companies do not profit from the war in this country by state complicity; so that they do not imprison with fences the indigenous territory and inhabitants. We find that the government has great heart for the multinationals and strong arms against the Wayuu.
In this document the organizations below affirm their commitment to engage their organizations in support of the secure return of the displaced Wayuu and to inform their respective communities of the violence committed against the indigenous people of La Guajira and of the close relationship between the Colombian military and the paramilitary.
We call for the Colombian government to: 1) guarantee the life and integrity of all the members of the desert town of the WAYUU, especially of its leader De
bora Barros Fince, who received new death threats during this second Yanama; 2) respect the territory and property of the Wayuu; 3) work to guarantee the existence of economic security of the resources worthy of this town; 4) join the Wayuu in seeking justice in the 9th Circuit Court and officially condemn and seek punishment of the perpetrators of this attempted genocide against the Wayuu people and community so that these facts are not left in impunity and forgetfulness.
Subscribing Organizations:
Pueblo Muisca, Corp. Siemprevivas, Association Ecate, Ecological org. OE, Sintraminercol, Sintramin, Fenasintrap, Bridges Across Borders.
Please send communications to the Colombian authorities with copy to Organization Wayuu Munsurat; Email: wayuumunsurat@yahoo.com:
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President of Colombia Dr. Alvaro Uribe Velez, Cra. 8 No. 7-26, Palace of Narino, Santa Fe de Bogota;
Email: auribe@presidencia.gov.co - Vice-President Francisco Santos;
Email: fsantos@presidencia.gov.co - Minister of Mines and Energy;
Dr. Luis Mejia Castro;
Email: minas.energia@minminas.gov.co
- Advocate general judge Dr. Mayan Villazon;
Email: anticorrupcion@presidencia.gov.co - Defensoría of Town Dr.Volmar Antonio Perez Ortiz;
Email: secretaria_privada@hotmail.com - Permanent mission of Colombia before the Nations United in Geneva.
Email: mission.colombia@ties.itu.intmission.
Please also send notice to Bridges Across Borders, PO Box 103, Graham, FL, USA 32044 (352) 485-2594 office@bridgesacrossborders.org
John Alvarez, a native of Miami, FL, has been working with Bridges Across Borders (BAB) since it’s initial founding in 2003. He has served in several areas of the organization, starting off as a Student Intern, to his most recent positions as a Technology Consultant and Advisory Board Member. He was also the Layout and Design Editior for the premiere edition of Between the Lines, BAB’s newsmagazine.
John works for Miami Dade College as the Instructional Assistant of The Law Center, where he provides academic advisement and counseling support services to students from all over Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
CHICAGO ENCUENTRO: COMMUNITIES IN RESISTENCE TO GLOBALIZATION: A Bridges Across Borders USA contingent, along with our Wayuu friend, Debora Barros Fince, participated in the 6th Encuentro on Globalization of Environment, Territory, and Justice, which was organized by the Colombian group Justicia y Paz and hosted by the 8th Day Center for Justice. Groups from all over the Americas and as far away as Spain and Italy sent representatives to work on building a global network of solidarity for the struggles of civil society and people’s movements of the Americas — the indigenous, Afro-Latinos, and the rural poor, in particular. Participants included representatives from the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST), Argentina’s Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, and activists from the 6 Nations Iroquois Federation, among many others. We came away from this meeting awed and inspired, with many new friends and contacts, and with a trengthened and renewed commitment to help build international networks of cooperation and mutual aid.
Meet Paula
Dear Sponsors,
First of all I hope you are doing well. Second, I want to express all my gratitude for all the support and help. I am finishing high school successfully and I am looking forward to graduating here in Guasca. I have had a lot of new experiences all this year. A lot of challenges have occurred. New events have taken place and I have had to learn new responsibilities. I just can say that it 
isn’t easy to grow and that it takes time to learn and be able to make a difference. I am learning… and growing. I am planning to visit my town (Chocó) during vacation. I haven’t
been able to talk to my mom and that is one of the main reasons I want to go there. I am also planning to spend some time in Cacarica after my graduation. Cararica is also a small town in Chocó [which has declared itself a Peace Community] and I would like to go there to help to teach children. I am very grateful for all your help and support. I have been able to do and reach a lot of goals thanks to your kindness. I want to be a Psychologist and I hope to be able to go to university for this. Paula’s Story
Thank you very much for all your help, support and care.
Most grateful,
Paula Florez (Colombia)
Eco-artist Ana Tierra (Ana Maria Vasquez) uses her art to express the wonders of life on Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). They depict the micro and personal aspects of life, as well as the grander connection to everything in the universe.
The sale of these reproductions helps to fund the projects of Bridges Across Borders. Commissioning of original paintings is also available upon request. If you wish to order reproductions or an original painting for yourself, please call, write, or email us (office@bridgesacrossborders.org) with your request. Suggested donation of $10 per reproduction is requested.
At BRIDGES ACROSS BORDERS we set about dissolving the imagined and imposed borders between us. At BRIDGES we:
- Weave relationships between the US and war torn nations
- Give slide and video presentations
- Lead workshops and discussion groups on a host of topics
- Teach skills for peaceful conflict resolution
- Seek assistance for communities in need of basic services and sustenance
- Help to initiate projects in Colombia, Panama, Mexico, and the United States
- Working to provide educational opportunities
- Promote Fair Trade cooperatives and localized economies
We ask you to join with us in creating this global tapestry. Please help us to lay the foundation on which to build a more just and compassionate world.
We recently initiated an anaerobic digester project in order to facilitate the processing of organic wastes as a part of a comprehensive municipal solid waste management plan for the region of the Darien in Panama. The anaerobic digester transforms any biodegradable waste (basically anything that was once living such as animal and plant scraps) into quality compost (fertilizer) for the farms 
and biogas that serves as a substitute for propane fuel. The developing solid waste management plan for the area requires that no debris that could attract scavenger birds would be permitted to be collected anywhere near the airstrip due to the possible hazard for small planes. Presently, the organic wastes are burned, buried and/or fed to the dogs and crabs. The burning is believed by the local health officials to contribute to the high rate of respiratory illness, while valuable plant nutrients are lost to the atmosphere. Much wood is cut unnecessarily from the forest each year to burn for water boiling and cooking purposes as well. The use of biogas can help reduce this deforestation.
The digester unit, a series of sequential reactor tanks, rests idle at a eco-high school that BAB was instrumental in helping to get established, which is in need of material to process and labor to handle the material. The school will be teaching sustainable agriculture as part of a new program to develop skills and local enterprise for youth coming of working age. The unit adjoins the school garden areas where the fertilizers are needed for food crops and the biogas is used in the school kitchen. With more collected material, the gas could fuel boilers that process waste paper in a building to the immediate east of the school. The waste paper collection has become a prospering fair-trade micro-enterprise for Jaque artisans.
The trash problem is very visible and the smell of burning trash and plastic (dioxin) is an everyday occurrence. These simple solutions of reduction, reuse and recycling involve all residents and the rewards can be readily observed. The fertilizer and biogas are immediate built-in rewards, while the public health and deforestation issues are longer-term concerns that may be alleviated.
BAB is looking to expand the Darien bio-gas project from its current experimental stage through the placement of more organic waste receptacles around the region.
Please click here for more specific details about the project.
