Can Sandless Sandbags be used in the winter/snow? Will they freeze?

Yes, they can be used in the winter/snow. Make sure they are fully activated before freezing temperatures occur to assure maximum protection when the snow is melting. We do not recommend moving them while frozen to prevent any tearing of the outer material. Also, Salt on the roads should not come in contact with Sandless Sandbags. To help, pre-activate Sandless Sandbags with water & then wrap plastic under & over the top to prevent the salt from making contact.

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Tips for Preparing your Home for Flooding

• Locate your electrical, gas and water shutoff valves and make sure you know how to shut them off.
• Secure or relocate to higher ground any unstable or dangerous materials that may be swept away or moved by flood waters (for example: pallets, lumber, fuel tanks, equipment).
• Identify any materials that could cause environmental damage if they came in contact with flood waters (for example: paints, fuel, gasoline, fertilizers, etc.).
• Ensure your property grade always slopes away from buildings.

What to Expect

• There are limits to what sandbags can do, so remember: Sandless Sandbags will protect from flood and the water will evaporate when exposed to high temperatures continued for several months.
• If bags are placed too early, they may not be effective when needed. Sandless Sandbags are for small water flow protection — up to two feet.
• Protection from larger flow requires a more permanent flood prevention system. Be sure to consult with your local environmental protection department before disposing of used sandbags.
• Sandless Sandbags that are exposed to contaminated floodwaters may pose an environmental hazard and require special handling.

Traditional Sandbags pose another problem when it’s time to get rid of them. If the plastic bags have been out in the sun for a few weeks, they may start to fall apart from exposure to ultraviolet radiation. As a result, the bags themselves can’t be easily reused. If the sand is wet, there’s the added risk that it has become contaminated by unsafe materials in the floodwater

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Important to know

In Johnson County, Iowa—the site of some of the state’s worst flooding—local agencies are trying to figure out what to do with as many as 6 million leftover sandbags. State authorities do not recommend (PDF) dumping the bags into your kid’s sandbox or on beaches, but they do say the material can be stored to sand streets in the winter or used as fill material under roads or buildings.

There are some viable alternatives. One example is the HESCO Bastion barrier, which has supplemented sandbags in Iowa City. Consisting of a mesh wire frame wrapped in polypropylene, the barrier—a version of which is used to fortify troops abroad—can be filled with gravel or other material using a front-loader. As long as heavy machinery and trained installers can get to the site of the flooding, the barriers can be set up in far less time and with far less labor than sandbags—and then later reused. Along with the HESCO barriers, the Army Corps of Engineers has also tested barrier devices like the Portadam and the Rapid Deployment Flood Wall; when properly constructed, all three showed lower seepage rates than sandbags under lab conditions.

Got a question about today’s news? Ask the Explainer.

Explainer thanks James Blatz of the University of Manitoba, Ron Fournier and Fred Pinkard of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jennifer Jordan of the Iowa City Landfill and Recycling Center, Mike Sullivan of the Johnson County Emergency Management Agency, and Stephanie Victory of HESCO Bastion USA.

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Can I Use Other Bags to Fill as Sandbags?

It is not advised to use other bags that are not intended for use as sandbags as they may not be as effective. Sandbags are constructed for the use of containing sand or soil to prevent or reduce the impact of water damage in the event of a flood. They are typically made with woven polypropylene or burlap sacks. Plastic garbage bags are slick and will not create a sturdy structure when stacked. Feed sacks, although made of similar materials to sandbags, are usually large and not practical for handling.

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Filling Your Sandbags

It is recommended that you use sand to fill your bags with, however if it is not readily available soil will work too. When filling your bags, you want to fill them just slightly more than half-full,

but not all the way.

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Stacking Sandbags

One factor to keep in mind when protecting your home and property in the event of a flood is that sandbags are simply meant to divert water and debris away from the home, but do not create a water-tight seal. Proper placement will, however, significantly reduce the amount of water that seeps in and there are ways to keep as much water out as possible.

First, you will need to prepare the site where the bags will be placed. Whether you will be placing them against the building or creating a barrier or a wall, you should clear the area where they’ll be placed by removing debris such as large sticks, etc. These may cause gaps in your structure. Also clear the site of any ice or snow. Your barrier won’t serve you any good if the ground is too slippery and your sandbags all slide away when the water flows so you need to be sure there is enough friction to keep them in place.

Some bags will come with ties to close them once they have been filled. If your bags need to be tied for transportation tie them towards the top end of the bag and flare out or flatten the tied end. This will give the sand or the soil flexibility to move within the bag which will create a better barrier when laying them down atop of one another. For un-tied sacks, fold over the area of the sack that is not filled and tuck it underneath the sack so that the weight of the bag keeps it closed off. The bags should be placed so that the opened end will be facing against the expected water flow. Likewise, they should be stacked parallel to the direction of the water flow.