A Legacy of Innovation: Geoflow’s Journey in Revolutionizing Subsurface Drip Irrigation

Pioneering Root Intrusion Prevention and Sustainable Water Management Since 1990
Geoflow was founded by Rodney Ruskin, Karen Ferguson, and Alvaro Sanjines in August 1990. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the use of Rootguard® technology around the same time. The objective was to use the combination of skills and experience gained over thirty years of subsurface drip irrigation design, manufacturing, and marketing coupled with new opportunities opened by the Rootguard approval.

The Technology
The origin of Geoflow began in 1978 with the development of Rootguard. Research on root barriers was conducted at the Hanford Washington nuclear reservation. After extensive research, Battelle found a combination of materials that worked as a long-term solution to the problem of plant root intrusion by incorporating an environmentally safe herbicide (Trifluralin) into plastic polymers to achieve a slow release over more than 100 years.

In 1982 Battelle made a joint agreement with Rodney Ruskin, the chairman of Geoflow, to apply his knowledge to prevent root intrusion into subsurface drip irrigation systems. By 1985, a product had been developed. By November 1990, Dow Elanco’s trifluralin was approved by the EPA, using the technology developed by Battelle for use in drip systems for both food and non-food crops. Geoflow uses a range of subsurface drip irrigation solutions suitable for surface and subsurface drip applications.