Transsolar Academy and Engineers Without Borders Karlsruhe chapter are collaborating on the Water for the Future project in Colombia. We were approached by EWB to join their project that aims to size and install a reverse osmosis (RO) plant for water purification purposes in the drought prone region in the northeast of Colombia. The idea is to utilize the RO plant for drinking water for the inhabitants and plants irrigation.
We are exploring the potential for crop irrigation and evaluating the decrease in the amount of water used for irrigation in a seawater greenhouse compared to conventional agricultural methods. The hope is to use whatever excess water may be available from the water purification plant to grow the most suitable crops with a low irrigation requirement.
At Transsolar Academy, the fellows are not only interested in engineering problem-solving, but they also take any opportunity to act based on an understanding of the local context. The project is based on La Guarjira, the driest region of the country. Due to lack of rainfall in recent years, the earth where there used to be water reservoirs is now cracked and dry. The drought has caused serious problems such as shrinkage of crops, lack of drinking water, and malnutrition. This is why a sea water greenhouse concept would be an attractive option to reduce the daily water irrigation requirement of the crops.