A 4.0 Sustainable Aquaponic System Based on the Combined Use of Superabsorbing Natural Hydrogels and Innovative Sensing Technologies for the Optimization of Water Use

Aquaponics couples aquaculture with hydroponics: the water from the breeding tanks is filtered and pumped into the hydroponic system. Aquaponics is gaining much attention as a farming technique, thanks to its intrinsically sustainable approach; however, aquaponic systems need continuous maintenance and the processes need tight control. Starting from these considerations, in this work, a 4.0-oriented acquaponic system that integrates the relevant enabling technologies of the 4.0 Era is presented. In particular, the proposed system relies on two major technologies: i) the adoption of a dedicated microwave reflectometry-based system for monitoring recycled water quality inside the tanks; and ii) a superabsorbing hydrogel technology to improve the system effectiveness. In addition, to these technologies also IoT was adopted for guaranteeing automation and remote monitoring and control of the overall aquaponic system. This paper describes the design, implementation and functional validation of a prototype of the proposed aquaponic system.