I have been irrigating for over 40 years using water with an average pH of 7.6. Consistent irrigation caused bicarbonates and salts to build up in the soil. Our cotton fields turned a bluish-gray color and yields were declining. In 2004, after start-up of the Sweetwater sulfur burning acid generator in mid-season, the cotton started to turn greener and healthier again and yields easily doubled after two or three years.
Last year we got 3 bales of cotton on 136 acres using 2-3 gpm per acre. On an adjacent 34 acre plot which didn’t have the Sweetwater sulfur burner, we used 5-6 gpm per acre and yielded only 2 bales an acre. In particular, I like to use the burner for pre-irrigation to aid seed germination and spoon feed sulfur to my cotton during early growth. I would recommend the Sweetwater sulfur burner to anyone growing cotton.
Hubert Frerich
Cotton Farmer Garden City, Texas
It was refreshing to speak with someone willing to tell a potential customer “you don’t need my product.” So few times is that sentence spoken! Here is a list of our staff members. The folks most interested would be in the southern half of the country but you could most certainly send the (SSG™) product info to everyone.
Agronomist
United States Golf Association Southwest Region
Before treatment with the sulfurous acid, our water pH was around 7.5 and bicarbonate levels around 210 ppm. . . . Within 10 days of installation of the machines, our pH had dropped to around 6.9-7.0 and bicarbonate levels fell to below 60 ppm. The algae in our irrigation ponds also cleared up and the water was clear. We maintained a pH of between 6.7 and 7.1 throughout the growing season.
Soil tests taken during the summer showed salt levels on our greens at levels we normally only see during the fall and spring when the greens are under less stress. I also notice that our trees looked healthier and we did not have as much leaf burn as in past summers.
In addition to turf quality, we did not have to fertilize as much this year. Just as you said, the treated water helped release nutrients that were locked up in the soil and made them available to the turf and trees. We were also able to cut back on our watering times.
Golf Course Superintendent
I was very skeptical because I felt that of the sulfur burners that I had researched, they were either too expensive, were a safety issue, or simply the machine did not hold up. But, your machine solves these problems. With your simplistic design and engineering approach, 1) the cost is about 65% less than others on the market, 2) the components of your machine make it very safe to operate, and 3) it is very dependable with minimal maintenance needed.
During the grow-in phase at our new Glen Eagle Golf Club course, we had very poor soil due to high levels of bicarbonates and salt and the pH level of the irrigation water was in the low 8’s. Sulfur and gypsum were applied as a pre-plant additive in an attempt to help the situation. It did very little. Literally days after the installation of your machine, the golf course turned green, the salt grass started to turn yellow, and the new turf grass started to grow. In all my years I have never witnessed such a dramatic change in the color and vitality of turfgrass.
Links Management, LLC
Salt Lake City, UT