The 'decoding' of Japanese carp's water filtration system made the whole world admired

Kabata is the culmination of the sustainable exploitation of fresh water in the ancient Japanese. In this system, there is no dirt, no cleaning chemicals and only the fat carp are left.

In Japan, about 1/3 of all fresh water goes to rice fields. For an island nation, fresh water is a truly valuable resource. Even in ancient times, people in the land of cherry blossoms were aware of this and the old water filtration system called Kabata was the culmination of the sustainable exploitation of fresh water of the ancient Japanese.

Referring to the Kabata water filtration system , the most typical example at present is Harie Village, a small village on the edge of the mudflats next to Biwa Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Japan, in Shigai Province.In this village, the water from upstream will be led into an interconnected system of canals spreading to the residential areas, which is part of the Kabata system mentioned at the beginning of the article.Thanks to the canal system, water will be directed into each house, but more specifically a separate room in the house (also part of the Kabata system), dedicated to washing food as well as dishes. chopsticks after eating.

The water in this room will be stratified according to the cleanliness level.Specifically, water flowing from a pipe to a small stone basin will be the purest;when the small sink is full of water, it will overflow into the large sink below which takes up about 1/2 or 1/3 of the room area which is also the least clean water container.Based on the cleanliness, the use purpose of the aquifers is also very different.Specifically, tap water will be used for eating and drinking;water in small tubs for cooling, washing vegetables, washing rice and rinsing washed dishes;Large sink water will be used to wash the first round of dishes, along with more dirty equipment.Besides, because the water in the Kabata system always stays at 13-15 degrees C all year round, it is also used by people to cool and preserve food in the summer.It should be that people frequently wash in this water source will make it dirty.But not!The water in the Kabata system is always in a state of clarity and this is also a special feature of this system.

Besides the reason of continuous flow, the key factor contributing to keeping the water source clean is the special cleaning army: Carp .Accordingly, the carp are raised right in the big water tank of each house, when the owners wash their clothes they will gather and eat the leftover food scraps to the bottom.Thanks to this solution, the carp has both food, water is always kept clean.Thus, in the Kabata system there is no dirt, no cleaning chemicals but only the fat carp are left.

Following the flow of the Kabata system, the water from the large tank will merge into the canal system and the final destination will be the rice fields, partly poured into Lake Biwa, the water is still very clean.It can be said that with Kabata, everyone benefits.