Sharing experiences:
Keith May Emergency Planning and Support Officer
Neighbourhoods Southampton City Council said:
"In the Housing dept we initially purchased the aqua sacs in relation to localised flooding. There are a number of at risk areas within the city that are subject to tidal or heavy rain flooding and as we had properties in the area we found it prudent to have a supply just in case and indeed we continue to have a supply in the vicinity of the river where we have a number of Sheltered Schemes.
However, we subsequently found that the sacs were really useful when dealing with internal flooding in blocks of flats .We have used the sacs on numerous occasions where we have experienced flooding from toilets, bathrooms and kitchens .The sacs are very useful in both providing quick barriers to prevent water traveling both along and down floors .The sacs are also very efficient in mopping up the floods.
In one particular incident we utilised the sacs when a sewer from a 15 storey block of flats was backing up and began flooding an internal area adjacent to the main entrance and lift lobby .We were able to hold back the sewage to maintain the entrance and to protect the lifts .As this block has 150 flats the avoidance of damage and inconvenience in my opinion probably saved the entire cost of our initial outlay. We used 50+ sacs on this occasion with the only problem concerned being the disposal after the event. "
Adur District Council:
"I required a product that could be held at strategic locations and carried on councilvehicles to be deployed with minimal manual handling. Additionally I needed a product that members of the general public could access easily and deploy as initial protection for domestic properties."
"The manual handling risks are reduced and the resource requirements for deployment are low. The bags should be considered as a 'first aid' response to predicted flooding and in support of existing flooding where rising water is a danger."
Testimonial from Mr Chris Cant of Worcestershire
Dear Sir/Madam,
I feel I should write to your company to thank you for the assistance that your product provided during the recent (January 11th 2008) heavy rain that fell on Worcestershire. My house was one of those affected by the July 2007 floods. It was flooded by water that ran off adjacent fields. Although we were less badly hit than some, it is not an experience I would wish to repeat. It took four months to correct the damage as a result of water entering the property.
I needed to search for an easy to use solution to protect my property against the same occurrence and after much deliberation, I settled on Aqua-Sac.
The rain that fell in Worcestershire on Friday 11th January produced the same run-off effect that had been seen in the summer, albeit in reduced volumes.
I was able to prevent the water getting anywhere near my property using your product – saving much heartache and damage.
I particularly liked the ability to deploy the bags un-inflated, allowing the floodwater to inflate them. This not only made the job of deploying the bags much less effort, but also allowed me to gain an understanding of where the water ingress was concentrated – allowing me to prioritise my efforts.
Once again, many thanks, and although it’s a cliché, in this case its true: “every home should have some!”
Yours sincerely,
Chris Cant
London Borough of Tower Hamlets:
"I think all the authorities in the UK would be interested in your product.
Many of these are threatened by flood annually."
East Sussex:
"It is my opinion that the product has a place in protecting households in the way that a
householder would buy a smoke detector or fire extinguisher to protect from fire.
Beryl Kemplen, Aylesbury Vale District Council
"Flooding in this district is mostly small scale, in localised areas, but scattered over 350 sqmiles. We have very limited resources to respond to flooding situations. Because no fillingis required, and because the dry bags are light to carry and can be transported by car, theflood bags allow a more rapid and widespread response.We have also found the flood bags useful mopping up in our buildings after burst pipesetc".
From Conor Lynch of LeitrimCounty Council Fire and Rescue Service
"Upon viewing the Aqua Sacs at the Flood Fighters conference in the UK we purchased asample stock. The County was recently hit with a spate of bad weather which triggeredflooding and landslides, leading to a number of houses flooded. When dealing with theflooding the Aqua Sacs were deployed and within a short period of time the firefighterscould contain the water that was entering the affected houses. The overall feedback fromthe Station Officers involved was very positive and we will look to increase our stock in2009"
Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association
Aqua-sac came to the aid of the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association on Sunday as we trialled our self-inflating sandbags in a cave rescue training excersise organised by UWFRA and the local Fire and Rescue Service. Aqua-sac sandbags could easily be carried to the rescue scene in the remote Yorkshire Dales. Fifty self-inflating sandbags were used in two scenarios. Firstly, to divert a stream on the surface away from the flooded cave. Secondly, 25 Aqua-Sac sandbags were easily deployed in the cramped semi flooded cave in order to create a bund.Once deployed, in minutes the fire service were able to set up a pump from the resevoir created using the Aqua-Sac S.O.S bags.
A BAG FOR ALL SEASONS (REPORT)
The Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association is one of many rescue teams that answers calls to provide help to people and animals in difficulties on the hills; in this case the Yorkshire Dales. It is unusual, though, in that it is one of the few teams that also provide aid to people in trouble in caves and potholes in its area.
Since its inception in 1948 the team has answered hundreds of calls and has always prided itself on being at the forefront of using innovative technology that may help bring about successful conclusions to the incidents it attends. Down the years this has seen it design and manufacture equipment especially for use in the trying conditions found underground. Also, it has kept an eye on what is available elsewhere.
Many of the cave rescues that occur are the result of flooding. Inevitably, this involves the damming and diversion of torrents of water rushing off the steep upland slopes into the caves and potholes before it is safe for a rescue party to enter. Usually this takes place at night, and can involve dozens of people digging diversion channels and filling and placing sand bags. It may also need the Fire and Rescue Service to attend with their pumps.
When the team heard about Aqua-Sacs they seemed too good to be true. Here, apparently, were bags that didn’t require an army of people to fill them. Also, they were capable of being carried in quantity into a cave packed in a waterproof sack by one person. They had to be seen. Were they up to the hype?
Luckily, the team had been organising a joint exercise with the Fire Service to pump dry a length of cave passage that has a series of places normally full of water to the roof (sumps in cavers’ language). The venue was to be LangstrothCave and it would require building a dam within the cave to provide a suitable pool to accommodate the pump suction hose, as well as diversion of a stream on the surface. Older members of the team had carried out this operation several times in the past, including one sad occasion when three people had died trying to dive through the sumps without using diving equipment. This time it was to be a familiarisation exercise for new team members and Fire Service personnel.
The day dawned dry and bright and conditions were ideal - would the Aqua-Sac be up to the job? Well, the answer to that is an unqualified yes. It did everything claimed for it. We were, perhaps, helped by having Simon Minto from Analox Environmental Technology Ltd. with us to provide expert advice, but we are confident that left on our own we would still have been able to provide a good, watertight dam. See the photos for proof of what was done. The pumping operation was a great success and members of the Fire and Rescue Service who went into the cave to see for themselves what was happening down below were also very impressed with the Aqua-Sacs.
Will we be buying Aqua-Sacs to put on our shelves alongside our other equipment? Of course we will. The next time my phone rings at any time of the day or night, at any time of the year, and the police tell me that there is a flooding incident at a cave somewhere I shall have the knowledge that life may just have got bit easier through having them.
Harry Long
Team Controller
Oxfordshire
An Oxfordshire Housing Association uses the Aqua-Sac sandbags to protect vulnerable properties during severe flooding.
Aqua-Sac S.O.S sandbags have been deployed more than once over the last year by this housing association who always keep 2000 on hand in case of emergency.
John from Knaresborough
We have used your product this week and it did a good job.Our house backs straight onto the River Nidd in Knaresborough, North Yorks. We are at a narrow fast rising stretch; it can rise circa 15 feet, in around an hour, so protection is useful. When this happens the drains also overflow at the front, this is where the water came in on this occasion.
Aqua-sac were used as the water was coming in to the house. We literally walked in as the water came through the garage door.
We managed to place some of the sacks at the base of the garage door which stopped a fair amount coming in and stopped it running through to the kitchen by laying single sacks on the floor.
They did a good job for us, although not “text book use”. The sacks stopped the water getting into the kitchen and damaging very expensive Smallbone Oak units and appliances, so a good return on our investment.