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Kim Johnson ReportingThe continuing drought here in Utah has brought out the entrepreneurial spirit in Utah County. Four businessmen have developed a high tech way for your plants to live on much less water.
After more than two years of trial and error, these entrepreneurs have come up with hydropods. It's basically a bottle of hydrated polymers and they say this product can cut your water use big time.
It's ready to use, non-toxic, and biodegradable. Roots come in contact with the polymer and find a reservoir of moisture and nutrients.
David Davis, Founder, Hydropods Inc.: “We have some locals who’ve used it in big planters and it has reduced their watering requirement by 75 percent. Polymers hold water. They hold up to 400 times their weight in water."
So David Davis used his medical background with polymers to come up a way to help the drought.
David Davis: “It’s definitely safe. I wouldn’t eat it, but it’s definitely safe to have.”
He found a quick convert in Jeff Shockley who owns is own landscaping business.
Jeff Shockley: "In the past my success rate has been upwards of ninety percent, most of the time. But since we've used hydropods in the last nine months we have not replaced a single tree or shrub."
Joe Jackson, Hydropods Inc.: "Hydropods will actually remain active in the soil for two to three years. It will eventually break down into naturally occurring salts in the soil."
Unlike most polymers, hydropods have been formulated to withstand the sun, and the PH levels in the soil.
A 32 ounce bottle of hydropods is available for about $3.50 at Wal Mart stores along the Wasatch Front. Next spring the company hopes to sell it all over the Western United States.
