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How To Waterproof Equipment and Documents -

This idea is the perfect solution to keeping items dry in times of torrential rain, land and marine flooding - and water damage from a building's fire protection devices or the fire department's hoses, as long as fire or its radiant heat doesn't get there first!

Note that both bins are floating on top of the 'flood', represented by the largest container. Not only is the middle container , but it is also sealed, preventing water from seeping inside it. The inner container and any contents that would be placed in it, is therefore completely dry!

Should the middle container leak, which under normal circumstances should not happen, but is simulated here by separating the lid, a significant increase in water pressure from above would only compress the air inside it to a reasonable level.

That would not come anywhere near the top of the inner container, which would be sealed anyway!  The contents of it would still remain safe!

If the middle bin was tipped upside-down, but not flooded, the inner bin would then be . As long as the middle bin doesn't leak, the contents of the inner bin would again be dry!  In this emergency situation, there would be enough time to rescue the contents before they might become wet. Even better than these bins are the ones with a silicone seal between a container and its lid.

Sealed plastic bags only work to some degree because the outside bag (of two) leaks until the water level is about a third of the way up the outside of the contents bag. However, the inner bag is still dry inside, but I wouldn't guarantee the safety of its contents under water!

Excluding as much air as possible from the contents bag is still not enough for peace of mind. They would have to be vacuum-sealed in a factory to ensure no water enters in a short time. Containers with silicone or rubber seals are by far the best method of protecting equipment and documents from immersion in water.

Books also benefit from being placed inside one or more sealed plastic bags or bins the right way up, and then inside an upturned larger and sealed plastic bin.

It looks to me like architects and draughtsmen carry their plans around, inside sealed plastic pipes. You can see them occasionally on top of service vehicles. They are easy to make from a length of drain pipe and two couplings glued on with screwed end caps for total waterproofing!

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