Hexprotect® AQUA Wind-Resistant Floating Cover — 99% Coverage, 130 MPH, Self-Loading Interlocking HDPE Tiles

The Challenge: Finding 99% Coverage and Wind Resistance Together

Most floating covers force a trade-off: high-coverage tiles achieve excellent evaporation control but can be displaced by wind, while heavy wind-resistant systems are expensive and complex to install. This is a well-documented physical limitation. Lehmann et al. (2019) demonstrated in wind-tunnel experiments that while floating covers can suppress evaporation by 70–80%, piling up of cover elements under windy conditions significantly reduces cover efficiency. This problem is especially acute with thin-walled modular covers — typically produced by injection molding with sidewall heights of an inch or less — which lack the geometric stability to resist lateral displacement. When wind or wave action pushes these lightweight tiles together, they stack on top of one another, exposing large areas of the water surface and defeating the purpose of the cover. Mady et al. (2021) confirmed this in a three-year field study, observing that lightweight foam disks were repeatedly blown away by wind, requiring ongoing collection and redeployment.

For industrial operators across municipal wastewater, petrochemical, leachate, airport, and raw water applications, this trade-off is unacceptable. At airports, continuous coverage is a safety imperative: open water attracts waterfowl and creates direct bird strike risk. The FAA's Advisory Circular 150/5200-33C identifies retention ponds and wastewater facilities as hazardous wildlife attractants, recommending physical barriers including floating covers to prevent wildlife access. With approximately 292,000 wildlife strikes recorded in the U.S. between 1990 and 2023 and global costs estimated at $1.2 billion annually (Allan, 2002), a cover that loses coverage in wind — even temporarily — can turn a managed pond into an active wildlife attractant.

Traditional geomembrane floating covers address some of these challenges but introduce significant maintenance demands. These highly engineered systems require buoyancy floats, ballast tubes, perimeter anchoring, and dedicated rainwater removal pumps sized for major storm events. The Fabricated Geomembrane Institute and AWWA recommend regular surface inspections, pump maintenance, cover cleanings, and underwater inspections by divers or ROVs. Geomembranes are also vulnerable to tearing under snow loads, hail, or mechanical damage, and cannot easily accommodate moving or dipping equipment. While they can achieve 20–40 year service lives with diligent upkeep, the ongoing cost of maintenance, specialized inspections, and periodic repair remains a substantial long-term liability.

Potable water reservoir operators face an additional requirement: cover materials must meet NSF/ANSI food-grade standards, ruling out many industrial cover products.

Hexprotect® AQUA: 99% Coverage, 130 MPH Resistance — No Compromise

The Hexprotect® AQUA uses a patented self-loading interlocking hexagonal tile design. Each 220mm tile features internal chambers that fill with wind-driven water, increasing the tile's effective weight by 260% in wind conditions. The more wind, the heavier and more resistant the cover becomes — delivering proven resistance to winds over 75 MPH and engineered performance up to 130 MPH. The tiles are unaffected by rain water, snow, or frost, and rainwater flows naturally through to the liquid below without the need for pumps or other complicated devices.

The hexagonal geometry achieves 99% surface coverage — maximizing evaporation reduction of up to 95%, algae control through complete sunlight blockage, and thermal performance with heating cost reductions of up to 85%. The resulting thermal insulation barrier combines the insulation factor of the air held within each tile with the poor heat conductivity of plastic, while 95–99% coverage ensures a large reduction in emissions and odor problems. Each tile is made of long-lasting, UV-resistant virgin HDPE, and is available in NSF/ANSI-certified food-grade formulations for potable water applications.

Unlike conventional covers, Hexprotect® AQUA does not represent an obstacle to static, moving, or dipping equipment. Tiles can be easily pushed aside and the cover reforms itself as the basin and obstacles change configuration — as in a clarifier. The system adjusts automatically to variations in liquid level, with tiles rising, lowering, and restacking themselves as needed. Aeration systems can also be installed underneath the cover to ensure aerobic conditions are maintained. Additionally, when a water body is entirely covered, it becomes an effective wildlife deterrent: waterfowl and other animals such as deer simply don't recognize the surface as water. Installation is quick and simple — no assembly, no anchors, no pond modification — and the system is maintenance-free, with significantly lower upkeep than traditional geomembrane floating covers. The cover also helps reduce chemical consumption over time.