Using Gaasboxx as façade drain prevents flooding in greenhouse

After having dealt with yet another flooding, eggplant grower Peter Zwinkels opted for the Gaasboxx system. After having it installed as a façade drain, excess water is no longer an issue. “The water seeped in uncontrollably,” says Zwinkels. “Drains and hoses just didn’t do the trick. It’s been troubling us for years.” Nico de Jong of JES Product Development offered a solution. Along the wall ‘Gaasboxxes’ have been placed: plastic blocks surrounded by a permeable filter cloth. The rainwater is now directed to a nearby ditch.

The honeycomb structure of the Gaasboxx ensures that 95% of the volume is free for water collection and infiltration. The water flows into the ditch.

The Gaasboxx system is the result of civil engineering and became known in horticulture as underground water storage. The ‘boxxes’ consist of a honeycomb structure: strong plastic PP takes up 5% of the product, the remaining 95% being freely available for water. A box is 0.90 x 0.45 x 0.30 cm ( different width are possible). “Gravel will only allow you about thirty per cent free space,” says Nico de Jong of JES Product Development. “Moreover, gravel is a lot heavier and clutters up." In the Gaasboxxes, this is prevented with the filter cloth. The water can pass through, but soil, dust and other rubble cannot.

The Gaasboxxes are now helping out many growers. "With new greenhouses, space is created for the water. In existing greenhouses you routinely figure out where the bottlenecks are," says De Jong.