Narrator: You may not realize it, but the number one ingredient in your produce is water. Most people don't think about how much science goes into water quality. We visited a strawberry farm in California to see their innovative water treatment in action. Since California doesn't get consistent rainwater, farmers rely on underground wells, which means the water needs to be treated for ideal crop growth.
Waldo Moraga: High pH water needs to be treated to reduce the pH to a level that is slightly acidic, so it makes all the nutrients more available for the plant.
Narrator: Traditionally, water has been treated with sulfuric acid, which isn't safe, and it corrodes farm equipment.
Waldo Moraga: Sulfuric acid is a very strong acid. Okay? If you got any spill of sulfuric acid in your skin, you're gonna get a hole, you're gonna get injured. You got a one drop of sulfuric acid in your eye, and you can be blind. It's harsh for the microbial activity in the soil. All the microbes that are present in the soil, they can suffer and even you can reduce the population of microbes. And we are trying to do a more sustainable farming right now, and we want to increase those microbes present in the soil, not kill them.
Narrator: To ditch the dangerous sulfur, Waldo and his company ECO2MIX created an efficient system that replaces sulfuric acid with carbonic acid, making the process more effective, safer to use, and better for the environment.
Waldo Moraga: This is our ECO2MIX reactor. This is what we design and patent and we like to keep it like that, like as a box that the water comes in and the water comes out. And with that, we can adjust the pH for the irrigation water. We try to keep these as a, because it's a service, we are the only ones with the keys to open the box. But the farmers always have the option to see the pH that is going to the field. You can see that the water is coming from before it goes to the, to the field, comes through this pipe to the ECO2MIX reactor. We inject carbon dioxide that is coming from those tanks and, and coming through the system, we inject the carbon dioxide. We fully dissolve the carbon dioxide inside the reactor. It blends with the water. So we have a loop of carbonic acid coming in and out of the system. So every time we read here the pH, we know that we are having the right pH for the plant.
Narrator: These farms produce more high quality and nutritious strawberries by mimicking rainwater, which benefits the environment and eliminates the need for harsh chemicals that damage the soil.
Eryn Gray: Cause we have this whole carbon component to it, we're seeing a huge release of fertility, which is actually benefiting the crop, increasing our production. We're ramping up the production a lot quicker. Because the plant has the nutrition to support it.
Waldo Moraga: I prefer to eat a strawberry that it was treated with something so natural like rainwater. The carbonic acid treated water is the same as using rainwater to help farmers all year long. And what is more natural than rain?
Narrator: A surprising thing happens after the water treatment. The CO₂ is added to the water, keeping it out of the atmosphere. This aligns with Waldo's vision where farmers can fight climate change through safe water treatment.
Eryn Gray: There's a lot more benefit you're getting out of it than just lowering your water pH.
Narrator: Strawberries are not the only crop that benefits from this process.
Waldo Moraga: We have almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cherries, grapes, citrus, tomatoes, corn, alfalfa, blackberries, raspberries, lettuce, kale, brussel sprouts.
Narrator: With sustainable agriculture, the next generation of farmers is working hard to create safer and more efficient farming techniques to sustain our growing population. So next time you're eating a really tasty strawberry, consider the water it takes to grow such a healthy fruit.
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