Indoor farming technologies
Klorofila Siphon
At Klorofila, we invented a new siphon, enabling a new cost-effective approach to automate the irrigation of an entire grow rack. A perfect solution for this context of high seeding density.
This siphon is the first of its kind for the following two reasons.
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It operates reliably, even when the water rises very slowly in the flood table
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It is the first height-adjustable siphon, allowing users to adjust it based on their flood table or crop needs (higher water levels provide more water to the crop).
Constructed using 3D-printed resin, this device requires no electronics and has no moving parts, simplifying both installation and maintenance.
Usage:
Water is pumped into the highest flood table for a few minutes then the pump can be turned off. Once the water level in the first flood table reaches the user-specified height, the Klorofila siphon primes itself and siphons all the water out of that table, sending it to the lower flood table. This cycle repeats itself for each level on the rack, effectively running a flood and drain watering cycle for an entire rack without having to control multiple water valves.
Context:
While siphons themselves are not a new invention, their use in this particular context has posed significant challenges in the past. Earlier attempts to employ them often led to a fallback on manual irrigation methods, primarily due to the siphons’ unreliability.
Thanks to a few internal tricks, Klorofila’s siphon solved this technical issue and therefore they work effectively in this context, making this irrigation method possible.
Due to its eligibility for multiple patents, we are currently refraining from providing visual details or explaining the workings of Klorofila’s siphon. It has been validated through internal tests and a small pilot project. These tests have demonstrated its value in the context of microgreen farms, enabling farmers to automate irrigation in an industry where manual hand watering is standard. This watering process is estimated to represent 20-30% of the labor cost for these farmers.