Summary Groasis Technology

The Groasis waterboxx is an 'intelligent water incubator' that produces and captures water from the air through condensation and rain. The condensation is caused by artificial stimulation and the water is captured because of the design of the device, without using
energy.

The Groasis waterboxx makes it possible to plant trees or bushes on rocks, on mountains, in gardens, in ashes of recently burned woods, eroded areas or deserts or any other place, without the help of irrigation with a 100% planting result. In moderate climates the Groasis waterboxx causes 15 to 30% faster growth and thus more biomass. The Groasis waterboxx offers the possibility to make more money with trees or bushes through food, fruit, nuts, wood, extracts, medicines, oils and many other economically interesting products.

Proven technology

The Groasis waterboxx has been tested for 3 years in the Sahara desert by the Mohammed I University of Oujda in Morocco, with convincing results. Trees that were planted during the Summer with the Groasis waterboxx survived well. The trees planted were measured and showed an average growth of more than 90% in length within the first year. The test without the Groasis waterboxx was watered on a weekly basis but 90% of the trees still died. In this link you find the climate info of Oujda that you can compare with your own climate in order to see if the Groasis waterboxx can also be of help in your region.

Planting in the desert with the Groasis waterboxx		Planting in the desert without the Groasis waterboxx
88,2%	OK	10,5%	OK
11,8%	Weak	89,5%	Dead

Tests have shown that the trees, after the Groasis waterboxx is removed, continue to survive. This proves that planting with the Groasis waterboxx and afterwards removing the device is a secure way of planting trees everywhere. Read all about choosing the right planting material and creating the best possible roots.

Science Award

In November 2008 the Groasis waterboxx was rewarded the Dutch Bèta Dragons Science Award 2008. This competition is organized by the Platform Bèta Techniek in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. The jury was very positive about the potential of the Groasis waterboxx as a solution for ecological, climate and poverty issues.

Photoalbum of the Dutch Bèta Dragons Science Award 2008 ceremony

In May 2010 the Groasis waterboxx was chosen by Popular Science, America’s biggest science magazine with 3 million readers, as one of the top 10 inventions of 2010.

Please visit : June 2010: Popular Science magazine ‘Best of What’s New ‘ Invention of the year 2010 and the waterboxx that keeps plants hydrated in the desertificated and eroded areas

In November 2010 Popular Science organized the 4th Annual election of the ‘Best of what´s New’ innovation. This competition found place between 117 fantastic products of Fortune 500 companies, including the iPad from Apple and the Ledlamp from Philips. The Groasis waterboxx won the Green Tech Award (category sustainable inventions) and also won the ‘Best of all’ award.

Please visit : http://www.popsci.com/bown/2010/product/aquapro-holland-groasis-waterboxx and
http://www.popsci.com/bown/2010/awards

These Awards show that the Groasis technique is widely seen as a break through to a modern sustainable way of planting without the use of energy and scarce ground water.

Two options

The buyer of the Groasis waterboxx is able to select from two options: the re-usable polypropylene model or the one-time usable biopolymer model. The differences in costs and revenues are explained in the three templates with financial models for reforestation projects which you can download. In the future it will also be possible to lease the waterboxx.

Explanation of the functioning of the Groasis waterboxx

The Groasis waterboxx is a copy of Mother Nature. Mother Nature doesn´t plant but sows, by birds or grazing animals, ON TOP of the soil. The manure functions as a cover so that a capillary column (= humidity column) develops. The seed germinates, develops its root in the capillary column and once water is found, the leaves develop and evaporation and photosynthesis can start. This technique has worked for billions of years and therefore trees grow even in the Rocky Mountains or on the Alps, which consist of granite stones.

Growing trees on rocks or in deserts is not a problem. Planting and germinating - bringing the tree through the planting period until it gets its water from the capillary - is the problem. That is what the Groasis waterboxx solves. It is a planting concept. Read more about the Groasis waterboxx in the use of natural principles while planting trees in deserts

Roots

During the 5 years of practical experiments AquaPro found that at present over 90% of all produced saplings has roots that are not capable of penetrating a dry or rocky soil. Plants have two types of roots: one radicle or primary root and multiple secondary roots. The primary root is capable of breaking rocks and the secondary roots not. Read here information about saplings and seedlings of trees and shrubs and all the information on how to create roots that are capable of keeping your plants alive after planting in dry areas without using irrigation. In this page you can read info on how to make good planting material for trees and shrubs. You can also watch this animation that explains whether you can use seeds of trees or saplings of trees in one minute.

Twinplanting

The costs of the saplings or seeds are only a fraction (less than 2.5%) of all the costs that a company has while planting. Costs like capital investment in land, the organization and management, offices, maintenance of the crop, taxes, interest and all other costs that occur have to be calculated too. Therefore it is important to have a 100% survival ratio after planting. In order to reach this and to have a better micro-climate in the center of the box, AquaPro designed an eight-shape opening in order to be able to plant two saplings or seeds at a time. Read all about the way to get more biomass per hectare from trees with new planting methods

Make money with trees

The use of the waterboxx costs between 1 to 2 US$ per planting, depending if you plant once or twice per year. As it is possible in some cases to use seed instead of saplings one can save money on the planting material, this making the use of the waterboxx in such cases almost cost neutral

Investing in trees is an interesting and secure way to make money. With the Groasis Technology it is even more interesting. The financial models for reforestation projects for three different continents which you can download shows you that using the Groasis Technology has the effects of saving money on the investment and increasing revenues because of higher (biomass) yields. Increased profit is the result of these effects.

Trees grow everywhere

Trees grow in deserts and on rocks. Most of the mountains on Earth are covered by woods. All mountains on Earth are rocks, think of the name Rocky Mountains. This picture shows the 30 meter high famous “Lone Cypress” near Monterey California growing on a 200 meter high rock. (photo “courtesy Wikipedia”) How is it possible that trees grow on rocks, in deserts or in eroded areas? The secret of this capacity lies in the capillary. Read the explanation of the capillar in the soil. 

Planting on rocks

In order to solve the difficulty of planting trees or seeds on rocks AquaPro designed the capillary drill. This machine makes a planting hole without destroying the capillary of the rocks. Read all about this astonishing machine in this Read all about this astonishing capillary drill that destroys any hardpan and enables you to plant in deserts and on rocks.

Conclusions

The Groasis waterboxx is a practical instrument without maintenance costs, capable of 1) solving the problem and improving the results of planting trees in moderate and arid areas and 2) causing a 15 to 30% higher production and 3) reducing the costs and improving the profit of planting trees or bushes with significant financial returns.

AquaPro has no sales department. If you are interested to buy the Groasis waterboxx or other products please visit our webshop.