Patent 7152370 was granted and assigned to Laval University on December, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A capillary carpet irrigation system comprises a capillary carpet (10) having a series of individual capillary mat sections (9a, 9b, 9c . . . ) hydraulically isolated from one another by a water impermeable base membrane (18), thereby preventing water migration from one section to the next. This discontinuity advantageously allows the capillary carpet (10) to operate on sloppy surfaces and promotes effective capillary connection between coarse growing media and the mat. A protective water permeable membrane (15) is provided on top of the series of individual capillary mat sections (9a, 9b, 9c . . . ).