Gardening: Let’s Talk Structured Water
Have you ever noticed that plants grow better with rainwater than they do with irrigation? Why is that the case?
There appears to be a variety of reasons why.
First, rainwater can provide a light dose of nitrogen, one of the most important nutrients for plants. This is especially true following a lightning storm.
Our atmosphere on earth contains about 78 percent nitrogen gas, or N2. Plants can’t really do anything with nitrogen gas. However, a bolt of lightning possesses enough energy to split nearby N2 molecules into single nitrogen atoms. Those atoms quickly bond with oxygen in the atmosphere, creating molecules such as nitrates (NO3), which fall to the soil where they are available as plant food.
This process doesn’t make a huge impact, but it does provide some extra nitrogen to plants.
More importantly, however, rainwater possess a certain type of energized structure.
“Simply put, structured water is water with molecules that have drawn close enough together to start sharing electrons that then create electrical charge,” says Gina Bria, founder of the non-profit Hydration Foundation, an organization dedicated to hydrating people, plants, animals and soils.
The Agriculturalist, a publication by Texas Tech University, interviewed Bria earlier this year about structured water. Bria told the publication that water gains an energized structure through natural processes such as rivers, waterfalls, ocean waves by creating a vortices in the water. Gravity and other physical forces cause rainwater droplets to spin as they fall to the earth. Bria says water “structured” in this way “changes the soil, making hydration more efficient and absorbable for the whole soil ecology.”
Bria said water loses this structure through chemical treatments and – here’s the kicker – being forced through pipes.
Most of gardeners know that City water treated with chlorine is bad for watering plants. Country gardeners using well water don’t have this problem. But all of us have to use pipes and water hoses to get water to our gardens.
I harvest some rainwater using old molasses tubs and water my plants with it using watering cans. I suppose this water retains its energized structure. But the rainwater I harvest is never enough to keep the garden watered year-round. I always end up dragging a water hose around.
Several companies sell water vortexing devices that add “structure” to your tap water. Some devices are designed like whole-house water filters. You install them in the water supply line going to your house. Others are designed specifically for irrigation purposes. You install them before of sprinkler heads.
I know some of you readers might think this sounds like some kind of New Age, crystalhealing mumbo jumbo.
Indeed, if you search the internet for structured water, you’ll run across some eclectic stuff like this:
“Structured water is a battery that needs constant charging. Energized structured water recharges the liquid battery of the body. When the body has sufficient energy, its aqueous interior is highly charged allowing for optimized cellular and metabolic function in addition to greater hydration and detoxification. As many diseases are rooted in toxicity, dehydration, and improper cell function, consuming energized structured water may improve health in a number of ways.”
There are plenty of snake oil salesmen out there. But there seems to be some truth in this idea of structured water.
A 2018-2019 study from Dawson County demonstrated its effectiveness on cotton harvests. Researchers irrigated one field in 2018 with 12 inches of untreated water applied over the season. The harvest was 1,120 lbs. per acre. In 2019, they irrigated the same field with nine inches of water using structuring devices. The harvest was 1,400 lbs. per acre.
“Since 70% of our world’s fresh water is used in agriculture, these devices and the farmers who use them can significantly contribute to our planet’s recovery,” Bria said.