2:09pm Thursday 1st November 2007
By David Searle
STRATFORD MP John Maples has opened a new business in Alcester which is hoping to spearhead the fight against the flooding that the town is so susceptible to.
Following the summer downfall, many people in Alcester are worried that a similar level of rain would have the same affect and, with the true costs of the devastating floods only now coming to light, AquaFence wants to provide the solution to rising flood protection costs.
John Stead, managing director of AquaFence in the UK and Ireland, said: "Following recent news reports regarding governmental funding for the flooding problem in the UK, cost is becoming a vital factor in how flooding is addressed in both the short and long term.
"Relative to sandbags, the most common form of flood protection, AquaFence has the potential to maximise budgets due to a low initial cost and the fact that it can be used over and over again, whereas sandbags are strictly one-use only."
AquaFence, is a mobile flood protection wall that has its origins in Norway and works as the pressure of the water makes the system's elements stay in place.
Mr Stead talked about the advantages that the system has over the more traditional flood defences of sandbags, saying they are notoriously time and manpower intensive to set-up and may become contaminated meaning they have to be disposed of as hazardous waste.
"Whereas sandbags generate approximately the same costs during every flooding incident, once you have AquaFence as part of your flood fighting arsenal, you never need pay out further significant costs," added Mr Stead.
"We're looking forward to helping the flood-hit communities in the UK to prepare for the next flooding episode.
"AquaFence provides huge savings in the long term, so we're expecting plenty of interest in this innovative Norwegian system in the UK."
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