by Gareth Lichty

I have been experimenting with a mineral accretion method. This is a process of putting a very low and safe to touch electrical current through steel and other conductive material underwater which causes the dissolved minerals to crystallize forming a limestone surface which has the same strength of standard concrete. I have been interested in this process because of the potential for being a renewable building material if paired with tidal or solar power. Interestingly, if corals or other shell based organisms are attached to the steel structure with the added current they grow stronger and faster than if they do without the electrical current. I do not have any pictures off hand and this is very new project for me, but imagine hand woven wire sheets placed in aquariums accreting the dissolved minerals found in Kitchener tap water.