10-01-04 | News

Superabsorbents Find Global Applications

By Erik Skindrud, regional editor

The image shows an area of the President?EUR??,,????'???s Club near Indio, Calif. two weeks after treatment with 20 lbs. of polymer material and receiving standard fertilizer and irrigation. PHOTO COURTESY OF Super Absorbent Company

 

Superabsorbent polymers are molecules that possess the amazing ability to store 200 or even 400 percent of their own weight in water. They can be applied to landscaped areas to help the ground retain water, dramatically cutting the amount of irrigation needed to keep things green.

Similar compounds give diapers their absorbent qualities. Superabsorbents, also called hydrogels, have been used in plant culture for years, but have attracted new notice recently for their use in big landscape projects in hostile, arid environments.

The image shows the same area of the Presidents Club at Indian Palms without polymer treatment but receiving the standard amount of fertilizer and irrigation. PHOTO COURTESY OF Super Absorbent Company

Lush landscaping surrounding the Jumeirah Islands residential development in the Persian Gulf community of Dubai is relying on superabsorbent polymers to keep green in one of the world?EUR??,,????'???s driest deserts. The locale is so dry one of its biggest water sources is desalinization, one of the most expensive water sources in the world. The residential project is being touted as the first large-scale use of a hydrogel product, although others say that claim is overblown.

?EUR??,,????'??Polymers (for water retention) have been around for at least 25 years,?EUR??,,????'?? said Dave Czehult of JRM Chemical, Inc., the maker of Soil Moist. The product is used at Disneyland and Disneyworld, Czehult said, and close to 60,000 lbs. of it was employed at Hong Kong?EUR??,,????'???s international airport three years ago.

These uprooted apple tree seedlings demonstrate the beneficial effects of superabsorbents. Workers added polymer material to the soil surrounding the tree on left 47 days before the photo. The tree on right grew in normal soil for the same time period. PHOTO COURTESY OF Super Absorbent Company

A July story in the New York Times highlighted the new uses for the products. The superabsorbent chemicals can reduce a landscape?EUR??,,????'???s need for irrigation by as much as 50 percent?EUR??,,????'??+especially useful where water costs are high.

The product?EUR??,,????'???s cost runs about $2 to treat 50 square feet, and has until now restricted superabsorbents to commercial projects. This year, however, the United Nations?EUR??,,????'??? Convention to Combat Desertification started using a hydrogel in Iran for erosion control. The project may soon be expanded to the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan.

The Palms at Jumeirah Islands development in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is a huge, manmade structure that is visible from space with the naked eye. A superabsorbent material called Stockosorb is being added to its soil to cut irrigation needs by almost 50 percent.

?EUR??,,????'??It is the most ideal product so far we?EUR??,,????'???ve found to fight desertification and land degradation,?EUR??,,????'?? Rui Zheng, the UN official in charge, told the Times.

Another big overseas project was announced this year by Super Absorbent Company of Mission Viejo, Calif., which plants to manufacture 5 million lbs. of the substance each year as part of a joint-venture with the Chinese government. The polymer will be used for landscaping along Chinese roads in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and eventually tried out on larger, agricultural scales.

Super Absorbent is now in licensing negotiations with Pakistan, two African countries and several Arab Gulf states.

Another product called Terracottem is being used in the UN-sponsored Iranian erosion control experiment.

Contractors should refer to manufacturer instructions for safe and effective application. A basic Web search will turn up addition information on specific products.

Other hydrogel products include Creasorb, Sanoway and Stockosorb. A similar product called Watersorb is being used by the U.S. Army to control blowing sand in helicopter landing zones.