Water Saving Devices

Water saving technologies include dam sealing, soil & water conservation, water saving devices and water resource extenders.  Where limited amounts of water are available you must retain enough water to grow crops and prevent the land from drying up. When land is dried up the particles become very small and they can easily blow away in the wind or get washed away by water.  Soil erosion is commonplace in dry areas.

In order to save water Australian companies often use dam sealing and carefully constructed water channel paths to contain the water and use it as efficiently as possible. 

Weathering and Erosion

Weathering occurs when weather conditions cause plant roots to break down, root pieces remain in the ground next to live roots.  Weathering is caused by water, cooler climates experience the freeze thaw effect where water enters cracks in rocks and soil, freezes and expands and then melts. The expanding water to ice causes the rock to crack and break down. The same occurs in soil particles.  Plant action is the other factor is weathering and erosion; root hairs get into rocks and then grow causing the rocks and particles to break apart gradually over time. Tiny roots can exert enormous pressure when they grow, enough pressure to break large rocks.

Chemical weathering happens when there is a chemical change in some of the rock minerals.  Mechanical erosion is caused by physical impact and breaking of rocks and soil, for example by farm machinery

Difference between erosion and weathering:
Weathering is the breakdown of rocks and particles by the above methods. Erosion is when weathered particle then move, for example cliffs eroding by weathering and then falling into the sea.  Soil is eroded and then the weather (wind) takes the dust particles away.

Weathering causes the earth's surface to constantly change, by physical, chemical or biological forces these changes can occur over millions of years, or just a few years.  Different rocks erode at different speeds, for example granite may take hundreds of thousands of years pounding by the sea to make any noticeable changes to the surface, on the other hand sandstone quickly eroded and prone to all kinds of weathering, usually by the sand being blown away in the wind.

Since erosion can strip sand and soil and move it to a new location many government and industrial projects have been designed to prevent this and also to manage the consequences.  Seawalls, irrigation channels, wind blocks and similar methods have been used to protect costal areas. In rural and farming areas wind blocks, ground cover, channels and other structures are used to prevent wind and water erosion.

If you would like more information about preventing water saving devices you can contact RST on +61 8 9358 2511. RST can help you with