Are Sandbags the Right Solution for You?
The Environmental Agency of the UK, as well as many experts in the field of flood protection agree that sandbags are ineffective for groundwater flooding, and are only useful when combined with plastic sheeting.Sandbags are time consuming and difficult to handle, and are susceptible to seepage and leakage. Sandbags take at least two people to fill, and at a relatively slow rate of roughly 12 in an hour. They are difficult to handle, can be quite heavy, and time consuming to lay out. If not laid correctly, they become even less effective, further illustrating the need for sandbag alternatives.
Even in a best case scenario, when the bags are stacked properly, they will still seep water.Sandbags are often filled with bacteria from the dirty floodwater, and have proven difficult to dispose of when the flood water has receded.
Sandbag Alternatives
Water filled cofferdams are on the cutting edge of sandbag alternatives. They are water-tight, will not leak, and will protect your home or business the way that sandbags just cannot do. Cofferdams use on-site water to fill dual inner tubes, therefore, leaving very little or no environmental impact. The dam’s chambers to slowly and evenly inflate, hence, forming a strong, stable cylindrical tube. While the inner tubes continue to fill, the dam unrolls in a controlled manner to create the cofferdam.