How do I clean my flooded home and outbuildings?
All movable furnishings should be taken outside. All woodwork should be cleaned well with soap and water.
Upholstered furniture that has been in contact with water should be left outside to dry completely. Direct sunlight
has a strong disinfecting power. Floors and surfaces should be scrubbed and cleaned well as soon as possible
after the water has gone down.
After surfaces have been cleaned of mud and silt, they should be washed with a sanitizing solution. The solution
can be made by mixing one pound of chlorinated lime to 6 to10 gallons of water (500 g in 25 to 40 litres).
Household laundry bleaches with 5 to 6 per cent sodium hypochlorite may be used as well. Mix one quart of
household bleach to 6 to10 gallons of water (1 litre of household bleach to 25 litres water). Be sure to wear
protective gloves as strong solutions may irritate skin and cause respiratory symptoms. Wear eye protection
when mixing chlorinated powdered lime solutions.
All standing water in flooded basements should be disinfected, but remember to wait until the floodwaters have
left the surrounding ground. Mix two quarts of household bleach in a pail of water. The mixture should be
spread evenly over the basement water and stirred as much as possible. This should be repeated every four to
five days for as long as the water remains. In pumping basements, care must be taken not to pump the
basements too quickly. Water in the surrounding soil may cause the basement walls to collapse and/or uplifting
of basement floors.
Once the water has left the basement, remove all the silt and mud right away. You may need to use a hose,
buckets of water, and rough scrubbing. Remove all stored furniture, and other items. Open all the windows to
help with drying, and if possible, apply heat using a furnace or stove. All surfaces that have been exposed to
flood waters should be disinfected by brushing on a sanitizing solution.
All sheds, garages and other buildings where goods are stored should be cleaned and disinfected. In particular,
utensils used to prepare, preserve or store food should be washed well and soaked in a chlorine solution.
*from the ministry of British Columbia
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