Impressive results for French grower in just 8 weeks

Patrick Limousin is based in the Rhône-Alpes region of France, and his company produces around 100 million young plants per year (lettuces, cabbages, melons, and more). After being beset by persistent limescale problems, he contracted Aqua4D to see if they could help solve this issue. What happened next went beyond his wildest expectations as the innovative Swiss water solution not only made these limescale problems a thing of the past, but had knock-on effects throughout the production.

The most startling thing is that the system was installed in only October 2018, but in this short time it has had nothing less than a transformative effect on Limousin’s production. Firstly, the limescale problems have all but disappeared, meaning cleaner pipes, drippers, and no mineral deposits. Secondly, the young plants have much healthier and deeper root systems – crucial for healthy further development. Thirdly, the plugs maintain better humidity in the substrate due to better penetration of the water into the macro and micro pores. (See here for more technical information on how the Aqua4D system achieves this)

This extra moisture has also meant that the substrate supplier can now deliver a substrate that is 20% drier than before, generating an annual saving of 70 trucks (this can be estimated as a financial saving of 1000 €/truck, but also an ecological with a lower carbon footprint). For the grower themselves, due to the extra moisture their clodding machines can now work at 100% speed, as opposed to 95% speed, due to the increased water retention – increased efficiency at all levels.

In fact, Aqua4D’s Thierry Koch was overseeing the system’s implementation at the grower’s site and notes how the effect of the new irrigation solution was felt further even down the supply chain: “Limousin delivered their young plants to a producer, who also received a plant from another supplier at the same time. The plants remained stored for a few days. For the plants from the other company, their clods/soils were hard and needed rehumidifying, while those which were grown with Aqua4D water were still moist and could be planted directly.”