Groasis, let's green the world!
Groasis, let's green the world! Every research plan starts with phrasing a question or in the case of AquaPro with phrasing questions:
The answer to all these questions is: YES! The only thing we need is the willpower to really do it! AquaPro technology makes it possible!
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.
The essence of the AquaPro technology lies in the Groasis waterboxx. This instrument collects condensation and the rare rainwater in a smart way and distributes this to the young tree roots in minimal, exactly right quantities.
Early in the morning on a sultry summer day cars are covered with a generous layer of condensation. If that water could be drained off to a reservoir from which it can no longer evaporate and if that process of condensation and draining would be repeated a couple of times, then we could quickly collect a huge quantity of water. There are deserts with a relative atmospheric humidity of 65% which condensates during the nocturnal drop in temperature. The problem is that this immediately evaporates when the sun comes up. With the Groasis waterboxx this no longer is the case, it collects and stores the condensation at once.
In most of the deserts there is more rain than we imagine. Many times between 150 to 250 mm per year. That is 150 to 250 liter per m2. 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!
In the Groasis waterboxx the condensation and rain is collected. By means of adequate storage the evaporation of this water is prevented. The exactly right angle and the low adhesion of the cover to the water guarantee that the water enters the reservoir. The Groasis waterboxx distributes exactly the right daily needed quantity of water by means of a wick to the roots of the young tree. In this way a heavy rain shower of ten minutes once a year, can be diveded to the plant over 365 days. This gives the young plant enough time to search for capillary water deep into the soil.
The young tree is placed in the middle of the Groasis waterboxx – almost – on top of the hard soil. The minimum quantity of water moisturizes the soil under the reservoir without the danger of evaporation. The water restores the natural capillarity of the soil. In the 'vertical water canals' which are created in this way the roots find their way without any problem, even through stones and rocks. Trees have been doing this for millions of years. This phenomenon of restored capillarity is also found when you turn a tile, even if it has been lying in the sun for quite some time. Under it you will find moist soil.
After years of testing the right form and size have been established, the right angles discovered and the right composition of the material found. Just till the Groasis waterboxx did what we wanted it to do. At the moment tests have been performed on location under different circumstances in Spain and Morocco in the Sahara desert. We will keep on testing and demonstrating - in 2010 on a bigger scale, because we believe that the development of a good product is never finished! The technology of AquaPro is more than the Groasis waterboxx alone. It of course includes the nursing on location of young trees and the complete operation instructions of nursing, planting and planning.
