Water seeping into cellar of a cottage in Huddersfield FloodSax alternative sandbags soaking up water the cellar of a cottage in Huddersfield

Floodsax alternative sandbags soak up ‘mystery’ floodwater inside a cottage

FloodSax soaked up dozens of gallons of water which flooded into a cottage’s cellar in Yorkshire.

Laura Parson has lived in the house in Huddersfield for seven years and had never had a problem with flooding before.

But earlier this year Laura and her partner discovered a couple of inches of water in the cellar and spent ages mopping it all up.

They called out Yorkshire Water to investigate and the first thought was a cracked pipe in a gully next to the cottage and it was suspected the water was escaping from the damaged pipe and seeping back in through the cellar walls.

The pipe was repaired but when it rained heavily again water came back in, but even worse than before.

Laura lives in an area called Golcar and knew that Environmental Defence Systems which manufactures alternative sandbags is based nearby so wondered if they could help in some way.

She contacted Lucy Bailey from the company who popped down and placed around 10 dry FloodSax all around the cellar. The FloodSax are thin with a large surface area so they soaked up all the water but where it’s coming from remains something of a mystery. It seems to be coming up through the floor.

Yorkshire Water is now testing the water table levels in the area to see if that might provide a clue.

Laura said: “It looks like it only floods when it’s raining. If the problem isn’t solved long-term then we may have to buy a pump but the FloodSax have been brilliant as a temporary measure. When it flooded before we spent ages getting the water cleared out but this time the FloodSax simply soaked it all up for us.

“When things like this happen it causes so much stress and anxiety but we messaged Lucy and she came to see us the next day with FloodSax which proved to be the right solution to solve the problem in the short term. It’s certainly taken the pressure off us for now and the service we got from Environmental Defence Systems was great. The FloodSax are amazing and have done just what they’re designed to do.”

FloodSax are flexible and multi-purpose. In their dry state they are very flat with a large surface area so can soak up leaks, spills, drips and floods, often in hard-to-reach places such as beneath floorboards or underneath sinks.

But if they are immersed fully in water a gelling polymer in the FloodSax absorbs the water and retains it, transforming the FloodSax into a sandless sandbag ideal for making effective anti-flood barriers.