Can Powdered Water Cure Droughts?

[The Straight Story]

Solid Rain looks like sugar, and it sells for $25 a pound. And if you’re a bit skeptical of its maker’s claims, we understand. This Mexican product, which bills itself as a miracle powder that could solve the world’s drought problems, seems like it belongs right alongside magic beans and Herbalife on the “I wasn’t born yesterday” spectrum.

But rest assured: Solid Rain is very real, and very effective.

Solid Rain’s creator, Sergio Jésus Rico Velasco, is a Mexican chemical engineer who spent decades trying to mitigate his country’s drought issues. His initial inspiration for Solid Rain was baby diapers, an item that absorbs lots of liquid in a minimal space.

That’s the basic process used by Solid Rain — it’s a highly absorbent polymer called potassium polyacrylate, which soaks in water up to 500 times its original size. A whole liter of water can be absorbed in just 10 grams of Solid Rain, which converts into a thick, translucent gel. The water is then retained for up to a year, and it will not evaporate, run off into the soil or go anywhere until it’s consumed by a plant’s roots. Think of it like a little powdered reservoir.

The Mexican government conducted a one-season sample study on farmers in the semi-arid state of Hidalgo. Side-by-side, farm plots showed up to 300 percent increases in crop yield when Solid Rain was used. For instance, the comparison of oatmeal showed a huge jump in yields — 2500 kg per hectare in fields without Solid Rain versus 5000 kg per hectare in fields with it. Sunflowers were 1000 kg per hectare versus 3000 kg. And bean yields went through the roof, with a difference of 450 kg per hectare versus 3000 kg.

Solid Rain has been nominated twice for a Global Water Award by the Stockholm International Water Institute, it received the Ecology and Environment award from the Fundacion Miguel Aleman, and it’s been used in Mexico for a decade. But chances are, you’ve never heard of it until now. That may be simply a failure in marketing.

http://modernfarmer.com/2013/07/powdered-water-just-add-water/

[alittlelark]

1. Very cool!

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Super Slurper scoffs at your puny 500:1 ratio ...

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2006/061205.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superabsorbent_polymer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_polyacrylate

It's interesting to note that this is what trees and soil accomplish -- holding back rain so that it doesn't all run off at once. If the trees and soil are destroyed (by slash-and-burn, for example) the water erodes the land much more heavily and is quickly lost to drainage, rather than being absorbed into the soil.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

3. Solid rain is the devil!

[petronius]

4. That's really interesting, and a great idea

I've seen something similar for sale here called DriWater, but it seems like the DriWater liquefies at a constant rate whether the plants can use the water or not. If I'm understanding the write-up correctly, it sounds like the Solid Rain only releases the water when the roots try to draw it up? That's pretty cool...

[JoeyT]

5. You can already buy water

absorbing gel to mix into potted plants. This is just a huge increase on the volume of water the gel can absorb.