The technology inventor believes that it can contribute to overcoming the damage mankind is causing to the green planet.
Groasis Waterboxx - (Photo: transfer-lbc.com)
The ' Groasis Waterboxx ' box, a kind of watering nursery, can make the arid areas (due to deforestation and overproduction) fertile. The work of Pierter Hoff, a Dutch scientist, has just won the best invention in 2010 of Popular Science Magazine (USA).
The arid soil actually has enough water to supply for decades, but it is located a few meters below the surface. Because rain and irrigation water evaporate quickly, many young trees die before their roots can reach this ' groundwater tank '. Waterboxx , shaped like a ring rather than a box, helps the plant live long enough to reach its roots through the arid soil. The waterboxx has a tubular vents in the middle, through which one or two seedlings are planted and rooted directly to the ground. Growers only pour 15 liters of water into the tank inside the box and 3 liters of water into the tube.
The top surface of the box is designed to collect rainwater and lead them into the tank, while the inside is designed to collect water evaporating from the air at night. The box separates the ground from the sun and wind evaporation effects, protects seedlings and maintains soil temperature. A small tube underneath the box will flow about 50 ml of water from the tank into the soil every day, enough to supply plants while still stimulating their roots to grow deeper to find more water. Once the tree reaches the wet soil layer, usually after a year, the farmer can remove the box from the tree for re-use the next time. Each box of Waterboxx has a lifespan of 10 years, used for about 2 trees per planting. Price of boxes is cheap enough for people in poor countries to buy.
In tests conducted in the Sahara desert region of Africa, 88% of plants were nursed with Waterboxx survived, compared with 10% of traditionally cultivated plants.