12
December 2016
NORTHERN FARMING LIFESTYLES
WATER MATTERS
Life in a drop of water by Andy Bryenton
There is a good argument to be made that all of civilisation exists just so we can have — and just because we have — a supply of pure water. Our nomad ancestors settled down to farm at oases and by rivers, which is why the oldest inhabited places in Egypt, for example, are around wells and on the banks of the Nile. But take a look at the quality of water in developing countries today and it’s easy to see why so many of our ancestors suffered ill health — and even death — from bad water. Before the knowledge of germs and bacteria, tainted water was a killer which took more lives than warfare. All that changed with the discoveries of two early scientists, back in the time when a knowledge of the workings of nature was still considered witchcraft by the credulous. Today’s modern ultraviolet purification and filter
AN
DY M AC K AY
CONTRACTING AGRICULTURAL & FENCING
technology relies on knowing that there are things in the water to kill or to sift out! While people knew that obviously unclean water — brown, turgid, stagnant — was bad to drink in Regency era London, nobody knew why. The first man to peer into a droplet of water and see what he called ‘animacules’ — germs — was the polymath genius Robert Hooke. A contemporary of Isaac Newton (who he’d later argue with over questions of gravity and calculus), Hooke had already contributed to the For
All Your Plumbing Requirements
This microscope was the first such tool of its kind — used by early scientist Robert Hooke to discover germs in water
D & A Nisbet Contracting Co Ltd
THE SHORT DROP LIMITED
Northland Wide - For all your Earthwork Requirements Town & Country Work Welcome
QUALIFIED & RELIABLE
DREADON & KELLIHER
Ph/Fax Andy 09 423 7339 or 0274 956 674
fields of medicine, physics, chemistry and optics before he took one of the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens’ magnifying lenses and looked not up at the stars, but down into a puddle. In the same year that he discovered water was full of living tiny creatures — and correctly deduced that they were a source of sickness — he also invented an improved pocketwatch, a better way to lower and raise ship’s anchors, and came up with the idea of the internal combustion engine — though he wanted to run it on gunpowder, not petrol. However it’s his book Microscopia which allowed later scientists and engineers to work out how to filter water, making it safe to drink and slashing disease and death. Farm filtrations systems today owe all their healthgiving benefits to this largely unknown genius from 400 years ago.
Beach Road Ph: 09 439 6577 John 027 494 2919 Harley 027 513 8623
HOUSE SITES: • Driveways • Foundations • Drilling • Retaining Walls • Hard Landscaping • Farm Roads & Races
FENCING: • Industrial/ Domestic • Security • Farm • Tough Terrain Fencing • Digger & Truck Hire
Portable self contained unit No smell, Cost effective, Modular and Practical ...an eco way to deal with poo! Full house hold waste water systems also available swwsnz.co.nz
Pay attention!
around road works
Phone Darryl 0274 618 689 A/Hrs 09 433 9933
compostingtoilet.nz Anita Grant • 027 462 1339
BRIDGE BUILDING & PILING SPECIALISTS We offer Design & Build for Bridges including plans, permits, consents and construction.
™
Convenient Superfast Trench Digging at a Low
Or see us to strengthen and repair your existing bridge to ensure safe access on your property.
Cost
Terrasaw Industries Ltd
Phone 09 431 6400 Email: enquiries@terrasaw.co.nz www.terrasaw.co.nz
Contact: GHK Piling Phone: 09 435 4443
Address: 9-11 Hewlett st, Whangarei
Email: admin@ghk.co.nz Web: www.ghk.co.nz
“Terrasaw” is a registered trademark of Terrasaw Industries