The Aqua Sac was developed in the UK, but Vloeddefensie in Heerenveen will be bringing it to market here
Translated by Thomas Ansell
With more and more extreme weather events likely in the coming years and decades, easily transportable and flexible flood defences are becoming more and more important. One of the downsides of using sandbags is that they are heavy, hard to move, and once they become saturated nearly un-transportable.
Luckily, the Aqua Sac seems to be an innovative solution to this problem: the bags are filled with an absorbent polymer that can fill and become stackable within ten minutes. Empty sacks, however, weigh no more than an empty jute sack. As reported by the Omrop Fryslân.
“You can get a whole box in the back of a car”, says Wilfred Westerdijk of Vloeddefensie, “and there are 50 sacks in each box. It’s lightweight, easy to move, and versatile. Depending on how high the water level is, you can use them to build a blockade of up to 1.5-metres.”
The Heerenveen-based company expects that flood-preparedness will become an ever-more pertinent topic in the near future, particularly for hospitality businesses such as campsites and holiday parks. Insurers may also play their part too, because proper flood prevention can avoid widescale (and expensive) damage.
Vloeddefensie also stock the Alteau Flood Barrier, an inflatable blockade that can stop floodwater up to one metre. The Alteau Barrier also has the advantage of being easily chain-able: so the barrier can be made as long (or wide) as needed.
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
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