From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue Jun 01 2010 - 07:27:56 EDT
http://cleantechnica.com/2010/05/29/inventor-uses-biomimicry-to-create-dew/
CleanTechnicaInventor Uses Biomimicry to Create Dew
Written by Susan Kraemer
Published on May 29th, 2010Posted in Agriculture, Conservation, Water
In harsh and inhospitable environments, with hot days and cold nights, this
invention creates a temperate and moist earthen nursery for protecting and
nurturing seeds into trees with a self replenishing source of drip
irrigation. It is a plant incubator that’s designed to cool faster than the
night air, creating condensation.
The way nature sows seeds is ingenious. Birds eat the seed, their digestion
process partly breaks them down, then they excrete them. The excretions
blocks soil evaporation above the seed, providing a moist growing medium for
the young plant.
That environment inspires this Popular Science Invention Award-winning
Groasis Waterboxx by Lily grower Pieter Hoff.
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A circular container half filled with water (one time only) encourages
condensation and dew and surrounds the earth that the seed is planted in. It
doesn’t evaporate away because it is enclosed. In the center of the bucket
there is a tube of earth, that is cooled and kept moist, in which you plant
the seed or sapling.
A candle-like wick on the bottom of the box slowly drips small doses of the
water into the soil and root system, and is replaced each night by
condensation that forms on the grooves on the top and runs down into the
holding tank, replacing the water lost to the drip irrigation.
This is a potentially worldchanging invention.
“In some dry areas, like in Eritrea, the average rainfall is even 1000
liters per m2 a year. Normally that water would evaporate in no time, but
the Groasis waterboxx does not allow this and immediately stores it!”
As the Dutch inventor’s (translated) website enthuses: “Some hundreds of
years ago the biggest part of dry land in the world was wooded. Yes! Even
mountain slopes and most of the deserts”.
“Spain was one big forest. Even that big dry eroded belt south of the Sahara
(for example the Sahel) was wooded. The bare dry stony Apennines in the
centre of Italy had thickly wooded slopes. This kind of areas could be found
all over the world. So we are not talking about prehistoric times. On the
geological timescale we are talking about yesterday. That is why we do have
water available in these areas.”
We just have to capture it. That’s what this does.
Source: Popular Science
Image: Groasis
Tags: Groasis Waterboxx, Pieter Hoff
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