Seattle-based startup showcases unique flood barrier that can be set up in minutes

SEATTLE -- As the snow melts in the mountains, there is always the possibility of flooding in our rivers. The typical way to stop flooding is by filling and stacking sandbags, which is labor intensive and time-consuming.

However, a startup company has created a unique flood barrier that they say can be set up within minutes.

The name of the Seattle-based company is Diluvium Dry.

“It's a PVC industrial fabric,” said Helge Krogenes, CEO of Diluvium Dry. “It has a life cycle of 50 years, so it is a long-life product.”



Krogenes designed the flood barrier as a way to replace sandbags.

Knowing that water weighs a lot, he created the lightweight barrier that rolls out, like a tarp. With a system of cables and battens, he created what he said is an impenetrable barrier that can be interlocked and formed in any shape.

“It takes us about 15 seconds to set up the equivalent of 300 sandbags,” said Anthony Bergin, the company's chief development officer. “After the disaster event is done, you simply hose this down and store it."

The product, along with others, is going to be featured at the CleanTech Innovation Showcase next Monday.

“It may be a simple concept but actually getting it ready for the market and putting it together ... the devil can be in the details,” said Tom Ranken, president and CEO of the CleanTech Alliance.

And that’s where Diluvium Dry is now, trying to get this product out on the market. They have just launched a crowdfunding campaign on the website Indiegogo. They hope to raise $700,000 in order to get global certification so that it can get to first responders.

“So people like ‘Doctors Without Borders’ or the American Red Cross would benefit from this,” said Michael Bradbury, the company's chief marketing officer. “We'll be able to go into areas affected by floods, earthquakes and tsunamis.”