Intellectual Property
ROOTGUARD
Subsurface drip is used to irrigate agricultural crops, landscape and turf areas and to reuse or dispose effluent water. Unfortunately, roots can clog drip emitters in systems buried below mulch or below the soil surface, and this tendency historically limited the service life of the system.
Now, through a unique marriage of polymer and root-growth inhibitor, long-term, controlled-release devices that establish a barrier zone where plant roots cannot grow. The original devices were developed to keep tumble weed roots out of nuclear waste sites. In the mid 1980’s A.I.Innovations worked with Battelle scientists to engineer ROOTGUARD, a patented process that prevents roots from entering the emitters, specifically for subsurface drip applications. The active ingredient, Treflan® or Pendimethalin, is incorporated inside the tubing during the extrusion process to direct root growth away from the drip emitter. Subsurface drip irrigation systems protected with the ROOTGUARD offer all the benefits of the buried drip irrigation technology without the problem of root intrusions.
ROOTGUARD is a registered trademark of A.I.Innovations
GEOSHIELD
A.I.Innovations developed Geoshield® to combat biological build-up on components used to carry effluent in the onsite dispersal industry. Geoshield, an antimicrobial, Tributyl tin maleate, inhibits adhesion of biological growth at its very source. Similar to bactericides used in shower curtains and boat hulls, it does not have any measurable biological effect on the water flow. To date it is used by Geoflow, Inc. to protect dripline and is also molded into the polypropylene discs found inside their Biodisc drip filters.
WASTEFLOW
Wasteflow is used in drainfields that require a light footprint; steep slopes, complex areas, shallow soil horizons, tricky soils, environmentally sensitive locations and for reuse.
Having a product with ROOTGUARD® that can be placed underground without the risk of root intrusion got Wasteflow a foothold in the onsite world back in 1989, and that was just the start. Subsequently the turquoise inner layer, Geoshield, was added to keep the walls clean and to minimize the velocity required to flush Wasteflow dripline. The smooth inner wall reduces friction and in turn reduces the pump capacity required to keep the dripline clean.