How BlastSax sandless sandbags can contain water to prevent water damage

BlastSax alternative sandbags are renowned for blast mitigation but are also highly effective at containing water to prevent water damage.

They were used recently at a house in Yorkshire after water bubbled up to the surface from an underground spring and was in danger of seeping into the home.

Fortunately a neighbour had some BlastSax and quickly deployed them to coral the water in and prevent it from getting any further and causing water damage.

BlastSax are well-known and trusted by the military and specialist police units worldwide as instant alternative sandbags to use at emergencies such as IED incidents, especially to surround suspicious packages and mitigate the impact should there be an explosion.

BlastSax are preferred to old-style sandbags because they are far more space-saving to store, easy to get to the scene and quick to deploy once there, using way less manpower.

BlastSax are made by Yorkshire company Environmental Defence Systems Ltd and its special projects manager, Jessica Bailey, said: “This incident just goes to show how flexible and multi-purpose BlastSax can be. They are renowned worldwide for their vital role with the military but can also be highly effective in civilian life to halt floodwater in its tracks or divert it down drains.’’

One box of 14 (two packs of 7 BlastSax) can be easily carried by one person and hundreds will fit into the back of a rapid response vehicle, even something as small as an estate car.

How do BlastSax work?

Once at the scene BlastSax need to be fully immersed in around 20 litres of water which its gelling polymer absorbs and retains, transforming it into an instant sandless sandbag in around five minutes.

This means they expand from being ultra flat and lightweight, weighing just 700 grams before activation, to becoming taut and weighing around 20kg (44lbs) after coming into contact in water.

In their dry state BlastSax are flat with a large surface area and the gelling polymer can soak up any kind of water – internal floods, escapes of water, leaks or spills – to prevent the water from spreading and causing colossal damage.

In their military role BlastSax can be used with aqueous decontaminants to neutralise chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats.

They are ideal for conventional demolition, minefield clearance, combat engineering, personnel protection when preparing detonators, IED applications, pipe bombs, CBRN tasks and blast protection in sensitive locations where collateral damage is unacceptable and to prevent flooding.  

Environmental Defence Systems Ltd also devised and manufacture the FloodSax sandless sandbag which is only used for civilian flood and escape of water emergencies.

It works very similar to BlastSax and, in their dry state, FloodSax are also very flat with a large surface area so are ideal at tackling internal escapes of water and, once immersed in water, become instant alternative sandbags to prevent floodwater getting into homes, businesses and public buildings.

For more on BlastSax go to https://www.blastsax.com and for FloodSax go to https://www.floodsax.co.uk