How BlastSax prevented thousands of pounds of water damage

BlastSax saved the day and thousands of pounds damage … but not in their usual sandless sandbag state.

They are well-known and trusted by the military and specialist police units worldwide as instant alternative sandbags that are transformed into highly effective barriers after they are immersed in water which the special gelling polymer inside the BlastSax then absorbs and retains.

But in their dry state they 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.

This was the case at a garage in the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield. The house is owned by Lucy Bailey, a director at Environmental Defence Systems Ltd which devised the BlastSax.

She said: “We have some BlastSax stored at our home and when we had a very cold and icy spell in early January 2026 a pipe in the garage expanded and split, spraying water across it.

“By the time we discovered the leak the water was around four inches deep across the floor so we isolated the pipe and then threw BlastSax on the flood which it soaked up in minutes to stop it spreading and cause severe water damage.”

It’s certainly an unusual use of the BlastSax which are designed as sandbag replacements for the military to use at emergencies such as IED incidents, especially to surround suspicious packages to 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.

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.

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 under eight 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.

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, blast protection in sensitive locations where collateral damage is unacceptable and to prevent flooding.