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Sand: One element, three applications, a whole world of water conservation possibilities.

 

No matter where you live, you have likely noticed a major change in the amount of water in your region. Perhaps more frequent deluges and droughts has stripped the precious topsoil in your area and farmers have resorted to using more and more fertilizers to achieve crop yields. Perhaps area farmers rely soley on irrigation water, causing tensions over regional water use. Rechsand, the leader in nanocoating technologies on sand, have an array of simple, efficient and elegant solutions to some of our most pressing problems.

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Sand, in its natural state is gas permeable and to an extent water permeable. Nanocoating is the process of precisely layering different resins over individual round grains of aeolian sand. Each Rechsand resin has certain characteristics, which allow the resin coated sand to completely repel water, attract oil, repel oil, and/or float in water depending on the exact application needed. Hydrophobic and superhydrophobic, for example, sands are particularly useful where one needs to separate water from other materials at the molecular level or to contain water, while allowing other substances and gases to pass.

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New Farming Frontiers

Water scarcity is food scarcity. Global climate change is altering the rainfall patterns on which all farmers around the world depend. Millions of people, particularly in developing countries, stare down climate change induced food scarcity every harvest season. The number of extreme climate-related disasters, including extreme heat, droughts, floods and storms, has doubled since the early 1990s. Disasters harm agricultural productivity of major crops such as wheat, rice and maize causing food price hikes and income losses that reduce people’s access to food. Droughts and desertification is destabilizing economies and threatening peace. Water management to counter climate change induced hunger is nothing less than war prevention. Rechsand Ag Sand holds the power to reverse food scarcity and perhaps prevent wars.

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When Rechsand water-saving sand is lined below plantings, up to 75% less irrigation water is required to achieve the same yields. Just imagine the new farming frontiers Rechsand Ag Sand presents. Layering a thin layer of hydrophobic agricultural sand is particularly effective for orchard planting, allowing, for example, farmers in arid climates to plant the most water-thirsty and lucrative crops, such as tree nuts. Other liner systems under row crops are plastic based and can lead to plant asphyxiation. Row crops with a layer of Rechsand Ag Sand thrive with a fraction of water and fertilizer as less is lost to percolation while toxic gases still escape. In addition, similarly less mounts of fertilizer are required, lowering the environmental impact and cost to the farmer while still producing the same yields.

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Rain is a resource (not a nuisance)

Conversely, if you are not experiencing drought, perhaps you live at the other end of the new global hydrological cycle extreme: Your city is dealing instead with unprecedented rainfall and flooding. Your town's sidewalks are a puddle-ridden obstacle course and cars careen through inches of standing water as sewer systems become overloaded. Every year, more businesses suffer property damage and people are injured. Snow and ice present tremendous hazards requiring municipalities to equip, staff and plan for events that cannot be reliably predicted. Your situation is expected to only get worse, year for year. For example, the National Academy of the Sciences predicts New York City will experience tropical storms like 2017's $70 billion Hurricane Sandy to occur every five years by 2030. Even then, when water and snow clears, public spaces are scarred by the filth and grime of black chewing gum dots and dirty engine oil stains. When the clouds clear for too long, that presents its own problem, as municipalities must increase water usage to maintain parks and irrigate green spaces and keep their cities from drying up and dying.

 

Rechsand has simple, beautiful and effective solutions to turn urban rain into a resource, not a nuisance. Rainwater “disappears” straight through nanocoated sand Filter Pavers and standing water is a things of the past. Runoff water can be collected, stored in a nanocoated sand reservoir and used later, creating, in effect, a community’s very own managed hydrologic cycle. A self-sustaining hydrological cycle will keep a city's green spaces green–and research has shown that cities with green spaces, trees and parks are healthier, more productive, more enjoyable cities. Furthermore Rechsand filter paving solutions are “self-cleaning”: Snow doesn’t stick to it, nor does chewing gum or engine oil. Plus, this velvety smooth paving material can be cast in any shape and dyed any color—it’s simply beautiful to look at. This nanocoated sand paving has been used on hundreds of sites and withstood the test of time. Installations from 15 years ago look brand new today. 

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A New Age of Cleaner, More Productive Hydraulic Fracturing

Or perhaps you are one of 13 million Americans, who lives within one mile of a fracking well. If that fracking operation is plagued with low conductivity and clogged fractures, that well is losing money and your soil and groundwater is threatened. About 16% of hydraulically fractured wells spill liquids every year. Mitigating and containing frac liquid spills is imperative to everyone. Water use per frac well has increased by 770% from 2011 to 2016. Flowback and produced water from new wells increased by approximately 1,440% in this same time period as well. At the current rate, fracking's water use could grow 50-fold by the year 2030.

 

Rechsand offers an array of sands depending on the downhole conditions to increase production and reduce fracking pollution. Rechsand proppants can coax 15-50% more oil from fractures, while reducing the threat of contamination to soil and water. It's a win-win, which quickly pays for itself. Rechsand proppants require little or no gelling agents, gum sugar or other chemical fluids to encourage conductivity. Rechsand proppants are also safer for workers to use and cause less wear and damage to equipment.