GrowRaft and the Dual Root Zone Grow Cup

The hardware layer of Floating Ecological Infrastructure.

INDAGATUS designs, configures and monitors FEI installations. The floating platform itself is manufactured by SFG Technologies in White River, Mpumalanga. This page covers what that hardware is, what governs whether it suits a given site, and how to buy it.

For current specifications, options and pricing, refer to SFG Technologies directly. This page is not a price list and is not maintained as one.

GrowRaft is a modular floating platform. Modules connect to form a continuous surface that can be sized and shaped to the water body, rather than supplied as a fixed unit.

SFG produces it in two configurations:

Both can be combined in a single zoned installation, with different areas of the water surface serving different functions.

Materials. The platform is manufactured from polypropylene with recycled content. The float casing is 70% recycled polypropylene. Not every component contains recycled material, so the accurate description of the system as a whole is up to 70% recycled content.

The DRZGC is the planting unit that seats into the GrowRaft platform. It creates two root environments in one cup.

The functional consequence is why this matters for FEI. The submerged root mass is not confined within a medium. It develops as free hydroponic root, which is what generates the large submerged surface area available for root-associated biofilm, and what allows above-water biomass to be harvested without disturbing the treatment zone below.

Hardware selection is downstream of site assessment, not the other way round. The platform suits some water bodies well and others poorly. The factors that decide it:

• Water depth and level variation. Anchoring and slack requirements change with drawdown range. Large seasonal variation has to be designed for.
• Wind fetch and wave exposure. Open, long-fetch water bodies place loads on module connections and anchoring that sheltered ponds do not.
• Flow. Canals, inflow points and spillway proximity impose directional load and constrain module placement.
• Water chemistry and contaminant profile. Determines plant selection, whether harvested biomass has any safe end use, and whether treatment planting is the right intervention at all.
• Access. Harvesting, servicing and monitoring all require a practical way to reach the platform. This is routinely underestimated.
• Intended use of the water. Irrigation, potable supply, stock watering and discharge each carry different constraints.
• Biomass management. Planted platforms produce biomass. Without a harvesting plan, nutrients return to the water on dieback and the treatment benefit degrades over time.

If these have not been established for your site, buying hardware is premature.

Module dimensions, buoyancy and load ratings, connector systems, cup dimensions, finish options, lead times, warranty terms and current pricing are held and maintained by SFG Technologies. Rather than duplicate them here and risk them going stale, refer to the source.

• GrowRaft Floated Crops
• GrowRaft Floated Solar
• SFG Technologies full product range

SFG lists a two year warranty and free shipping within South Africa. Confirm current terms at point of purchase.

The useful first conversation is about the water body and the objective, not about how many modules are required.