The cactus
The cactus is an inspiring model for the water collection and storage.
Because in the desert it’s hot and it’s raining only a few times during the year, it had to create a solution. So when it’s actually raining, the cactus tries to get as much water as possible to store it as long as possible. For that reason there is a large system of roots and water- retaining tubers below the soil. To prevent the water from evaporation the stomata open up only at night to collect carbon dioxide. The water is transported from the roots to the top by osmosis (->gradient of concentration).
We tried to transform the advantages into our system. We want to collect the water in the soil before it seeps away. We are going to try that with a drain or with the power of osmosis. Then we can store the water in an insulated tank to prevent it from evaporation.
With special sensor we can make sure thad we do not take too much water out of the soil.
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