Water Hyacinth

The scourge of all watercourses and lakes, one of the most invasive species on the planet, this little beauty is unrelenting in terms of growth.
Trying to keep the waterway open in Lake Victoria
It blocks out sunlight, deprives water of much needed oxygen, and is without doubt one of the worse problems experienced in tropical and sub-tropical countries. testing board uses types of material board plant objectives concept front

The damage caused to wild life and fish are untold and the commercial costs to keep waterways open are phenomenal.

Even just clearing the waterways as shown in the above is self-defeating as it just causes more propagation.

But instead of seeing this ‘aquatic terrorist’ as a negative cost and andecological menace’, instead it should be considered as a free material stock. Water Hyacinth makes one of the best boards possible, its basic structure readily lens itself to the Ecopanel System. The material is normally sun dried to reduce the moisture content to acceptable levels or alternatively a drier can be installed to speed up the process.

The material processed produces a board of excellent quality, which is suitable for a variety of uses such as construction, housing, furniture making, packaging, etc.

Extensive tests have been conducted on samples received from Lake – Victoria - Kenya and from Thailand, both produce excellent density board.

The massive and increasing problems caused by the continuing invasion of fresh waterways throughout the world are well documented and the various solutions, biological, physical and chemical are either barely containing the problem or still subject to much research. Water Hyacinth
The Ecopanel board, plant takes water hyacinth cut from the waterways, processes the raw material and converts it into panel board.

Boards, produced on the system are normally 2440 x 1220mm (8’x4’) and can be made in a range of thickness up to 30mm and density up to 650kgm3.

The boards produced are similar to chipboard/MDF, and are suitable for a wide range purposes such as housing, construction, furniture, packing and crating.

Boards produced from water hyacinth samples taking from Thailand and Lake Victoria – Kenya have been tested to relevant British and DIN standards.

The tests found to compare favourably with conventional panel board in structural terms such as impact strength, nail holding, gluing and routing. They also displayed excellent water and fire resistant properties.

The Ecopanel plant is specifically designed to operate in the localised rural environment in which Water Hyacinth is normally found, and does not require sophisticated facilities or support.

An ‘Entry Level’ system Production is approximately 2 tonnes per hour per unit, and can be sited close to the waterside and draw its feed material from a fairly small area of invaded water.

Again, depending upon quantity an Industrial or Semi-Industrial plant could provide the solution within areas where there are huge quantities this wonderful resource!

It therefore provides opportunities for the introduction of local industry, reducing imported materials and commercially funding the physical cost of weed removal.

Converting water hyacinth into a resource, rather like renewable crop requiring no cultivation, fertilisation or sowing.

The board produced from such an energetic source, and in essence an infinite supply, as water hyacinth, is of the highest quality that one can achieve; such board can be used in many applications. Water Hyacinth
No chemicals, debris or dead material are left to pollute waters, no effluent is generated and dumped back to sources and no fumes are emitted to damage the environment.

The Ecopanel System is a totally environmentally friendly and ecologically sound solution, wherein no waste is generated, and all products made from the board can be recycled time after time.

In short, the system offers a very economically viable solution to what appears to be an insurmountable problem.

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© 2005 Ecopanel Systems Ltd
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