Impressive Life.

Green · Greenhouses

Drink the aquifer. Grow more. Drink less.

Waterless greenhouses for Spain’s dry south. The approach we’re exploring: keep the water in a loop instead of pouring it away. A direction, not a service yet.

Invernaderos sin agua para el sur seco de España. Una dirección, todavía no un servicio.

Talk to us about water The approach

El sur seco · España

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The story · La historia

Lots of sun. Not much rain.

And a great many plastic greenhouses, quietly drinking from underground.

Spain’s dry south is very good at two things: sunshine and growing food under plastic. From the air, whole valleys shine white. Inside, it is warm, green and productive, and it is thirsty.

The sun is free. The water is not. Much of it comes from underground, and an aquifer never sends an invoice. It just gets lower, and saltier, and one day somebody’s well gives a cough.

So here is the direction: greenhouses that use as little new water as possible. Water that goes round instead of away. “Waterless” is the ambition, not a measurement, and we will not pretend otherwise until there is something to measure.

El sur seco de España tiene sol de sobra y poca lluvia. Los invernaderos producen mucho y beben mucho, a menudo del acuífero. La dirección: invernaderos que gasten la menor cantidad posible de agua nueva. “Sin agua” es la ambición, no una medición.

Mientras tanto · Meanwhile

La tierra
tiene sed.

The ground is thirsty.

It has been asking politely for years.

The approach we’re exploring · El enfoque

Water that goes round, not away.

El agua da la vuelta. No se va.

  1. 01

    Recirculate. Close the loop.

    What the roots don’t take is collected, cleaned and sent round again, instead of draining into the ground.

    Recircular. Lo que las raíces no usan se recoge, se limpia y vuelve al circuito.

  2. 02

    Catch the condensation.

    Plants breathe water out. A closed greenhouse can catch it on cool surfaces and give it back, rather than venting it to the sky.

    Condensación. Las plantas transpiran agua. Se puede recoger y devolver.

  3. 03

    Shade and humidity control.

    Less heat, less thirst. Managing shade and humidity so plants lose less water in the first place.

    Sombra y humedad. Menos calor, menos sed.

  4. 04

    Measure it, or it’s a brochure.

    Every principle above is only worth what it saves on a meter. Until there is a meter, it stays a principle.

    Medir. Sin medición, es un folleto.

Young plants in white grow bags, each fed by its own thin drip line running straight to the roots.
Roots Give them what they drink. Not the rest of the hose.
Condensation beading on an old greenhouse window, a pink rose blurred behind the glass.
Condensation Water the air was already carrying. Worth catching.

The sun turns up every day without being asked. The rain needs persuading. We’d rather not depend on persuasion.El sol viene cada día sin que nadie se lo pida. La lluvia hay que convencerla.

Para quién · Who it might be for

For people who pay for water, one way or another.

  • ·

    Growers in the dry south. You know the water bill, and the water table, better than anyone.

    Agricultores del sur seco.

  • ·

    Landowners with a field and a question. Sun you have. Water you’d rather not buy twice.

    Propietarios con un terreno y una pregunta.

  • ·

    Engineers and researchers working on water. If you are already doing this properly, we would like to listen first.

    Ingenieros e investigadores del agua.

Lo que no prometemos · Honest limits

A direction, not a service yet.

Escríbenos · Write

Talk to us about water.

If you grow, own land, or work on water in Spain’s dry south, write. A short note is plenty.

Si cultivas, tienes terreno o trabajas con agua en el sur seco, escríbenos.

welcome@impressivelife.es Back to Green

Impressive Life · Green · Greenhouses · A direction

  • Who you are · Quién eres
  • Where the land is · Dónde está el terreno
  • What you grow, or want to · Qué cultivas
  • Where your water comes from · De dónde viene el agua