‘Water Battery’ invention grows trees in the Sahara
A Dutch inventor created a new polypropylene ‘water battery’ that captures both rainwater and condensation, allowing crops and trees to grow even in the driest places on earth, reported The New York Times this month.
The Groasis Waterboxx, created by Pieter Hoff, is about the size and shape of a car tire with a wick on the inside that taps groundwater beneath the box, providing daily drips to the plant’s root system.
When the tree or plant establishes long enough roots and reaches the water source on its own, the Waterboxx can be removed and started anew in a another location.
An excerpt from the exciting story:
Mr. Hoff has recently concluded a three-year test of the Groasis Waterboxx in the Sahara desert in Morocco, an area that gets only a few inches of rainfall each year. Almost 90 percent of the trees planted using the Groasis Waterboxx survived after it was removed.
A test group of trees planted without the box, but watered once a week, produced the opposite result: only 10 percent survived.
This year, Mr. Hoff said he will be conducting more trials across eight countries and some 25 sites, including California wine country and Joshua Tree National Park.
Using a grant from the Dutch government, he has also developed a biopolymer version of the box that will decompose over time, releasing nutrients into the soil as it biodegrades. His long-term business model is to provide a nonexclusive, free license to anyone who wants to manufacture and distribute the Groasis Waterbox, while he plans to ask only for a small royalty per box.
Does this sound too good to be true? The story goes on to say that a Dutch company has already signed on to produce the Waterboxx.
–Toshio Suzuki