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Santa Ana, Ca. September 20, 2009 -- Salty irrigation water can cause many problems in crop production; salinity hazard, sodium hazard, availability of water to plants, toxic sodium shock and significant yield loss (10-75%). Luckily there is a new product developed by Eco1st Technology Group named the Inline Processor that is able to eliminate the harmful effects of salt in irrigation water across the country. Irrigation water quality is determined by the total dissolved solids and total amount and types of chlorides present in the water. A salt is a combination of two elements or ions, one has a positive charge and one has a negative. This how sodium and chloride are able to attach to one another. Saltwater intrusion happens when saltwater is drawn-in (from the sea) into freshwater aquifers. This behavior is caused because sea water has a higher density (which is because it carries more solutes) than freshwater. This difference in density causes the pressure under a column of saltwater to be greater than the pressure under a column of the same height of freshwater. If these two columns are connected at the bottom, then the pressure difference would cause a flow of saltwater column to the freshwater column until the pressure equalizes. Plants draw water through their roots, up to their leaves where it evaporates to the atmosphere. This is called the evapotranspiration process. Salinity restricts this by lowering the total water potential in the soil. Salts end up competing with plants for water. Even if a saline soil is water saturated, the roots are unable to absorb the water and plants show signs of drought stress. These signs are leaf burn, yellow leaves, defoliation, and the plant being unable to produce a yield. The soil will also become dense and form hard crusty layers on the surface making water unable to penetrate into the ground. Usually, crop yield is independent of salt concentration when salinity is below some threshold level, then yield gradually decreases to zero as the salt concentration increases to the level which cannot be tolerated by a given crop. The problem occurs when the plant roots take up the salts and blockage occurs in the plants which restricts water from flowing through the plant. Plants can continue to grow in the presence of low salts but the yield potential will never be maximized. Plants grown in salty soils or irrigated with salty water are always in a drought stressed condition. One recent potato farmer who has been using the Inline Processor stated in Hastings's, Florida "The whole farming area is battling salt water intrusion in their irrigation wells. I have two sixty five acre fields that the salinity levels have really affected the potato yields. In years past the plants would never even sprout. The crop would reach a point and just stop growing. I searched high and low for a high salinity water solution. "This is a common problem across the nation. Professor Mark Tester, from the School of Agriculture has stated that "Salinity affects the growth of plants worldwide, particularly in irrigated land where one third of the world's food is produced. And it is a problem that is only going to get worse, as pressure to use less water increases and quality of water decreases. Farmers need to find new ways of "Helping plants to withstand this salty onslaught to our groundwater that will have a significant impact on world food production." Luckily we live in a time where technology has been reinventing the wheel for the farming industry. New technology is introduced all the time to help combat issues that arise that have been here for hundreds of years. A new Inline Processor from "Eco1st Technology Group" in Santa Ana, California has been able to achieve normal farming results even with salt water intrusion in the water table. One recent potato farmer from Florida that has been using the Inline Processor stated that "It was like the salt wasn't even in my wells" and as a result "the first year the Eco1st Processors were in line I could see a big difference in the growth process of the crop. I had an overall 40% increase in yield over the two fields." This new technology is simply installed into the main irrigation line and the processed water percolates into the soil 56% faster and easier on average according to 3rd party testing from one of California's largest water districts. What is even better for agriculture farmers is that this process causes water to lose its ability to bond to itself or any foreign matter. Processed/treated water flows more easily through permeable and semi-permeable materials and is more effective for irrigation of crops. The Inline Processor allows water to flow more easily through the soil and up into the plant's leaves allowing the plant to divert all energy to the crop rather than for survival. Micronutrients in the soil can present themselves as a restriction to this flow under normal circumstances however processed water flows more easily around them breaking them down into smaller micronutrients that are transported through the root membrane with the water and up into the plant. All of these incredible results equal a dramatic increase in yield on any crop type without changing any of a farmer's normal practices aside from one simple installation of the Inline Processor. This incredible technology operates without any power source, chemical free, with no operator adjustments, and is environmentally friendly. Luckily for America and its lifelong drive for ingenuity and developing new technology, salt water intrusion can be a thing of the past.
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Eco1st Technology Group www.eco1st.net
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