In last decade or so, we’ve all witnessed some increasingly wacky weather. Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, you name it — we’ve been hit with it. Thankfully, an imaginative Seattle-based start-up has recently developed a flood barrier that will help homeowners keep themselves and their properties safe. While sandbags have been used to hold some lighter flows back in the past, the Diluvium Dry DIY levee was designed using advanced engineering techniques and built with high-tech materials that are sure to keep water out of your house.


The Diluvium Dry is lightweight and can easily be pulled out in the event of an emergency. If you live in a flood-prone area, it’s essential to have a line of defense that can be ready for action at a moment’s notice. The company says the barrier can be set up and positioned by just one or two people, making it the perfect product for anyone who lives alone, on an isolated property, or needs to have their home protected in a matter of minutes. Don’t believe it can be that easy to set up? See the assembly process for yourself!

Having installed flood relief systems in Fargo, Bangkok, New York, New Orleans, and countless other sites around the world, the company’s CEO and founder Helge Krøgenes has seen the devastation that deluges bring first-hand. For the past two years, Krøgenes has been field-testing the Diluvium Dry in his home country of Norway.

The barrier measures four feet in height and can be purchased in 14 and 28-foot lengths. You can quickly attach as many sections as you might need together thanks to the product’s easy-to-use, non-permeable, interlocking connectors. For added strength, the Diluvium Dry features absolutely no exposed stitching. Instead, its seams have been high-frequency welded together for a tougher, fully-waterproof surface. “Once secured in place,” the company says, “the pressure from the flood waters creates a seal, keeping everything on the inside of the barrier high and dry. The panels are sealed together by an industrial fabric that allows the system to conform to any shape.”

Another factor that sets the Diluvium Dry apart from those old-school sandbags is its incredibly easy storage. Once the flood has subsided, simply rinse the panels off and roll them up. Sandbags, on the other hand, absorb some of the flood water’s contaminants and muck and must be safely disposed of afterward. Flood preparation doesn’t get much easier than this.

While the flood barrier is intended to keep water from entering homes, businesses, and farmland, it can also contain other hazardous liquids. For instance, communities could use Diluvium Dry to quarantine a toxic spill or make a reservoir for clean drinking water in an emergency situation. Alternatively, the barrier could be included in people’s personal “dry zone creation” kits alongside tents and pumps. Given its Scandinavian origins, it’s no surprise that the Diluvium Dry can also be used for inland aquaculture. For any “landlubbers” out there, that entails things like salmon and seaweed farming.

It might just be the summer talking, but we’re wondering if the barrier couldn’t be used to fashion an impromptu swimming pool, too…