Farm Insurance

Water, water, absolutely everywhere; although drinking it could be a mistake! In the eventuality of extreme flooding it’s very probable that you’ll be forced to switch off your mains water, whereby you are advised to store an adequate supply available in your emergency flood survival kit. There are a number of other situations where your water supply may be disrupted or totally shut off, and at these periods your local water company is liable for advising you further. You may need to take additional measures before drinking water, such as boiling it, if and only if directed by the water company. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has distributed some tips regarding how to manage without having mains water, which we are going to outline in this article.

Boiling plain tap water in certain situations can make it safe for consumption, with regards to the type and degree of contamination it could have been subjected to, your water company will advise you if this action is needed. Prior to drinking, water should first of all be heated to a temperature where the water is boiling, it should then be allowed to cool prior to drinking (that is unless you would like a hot beverage, such as tea). If you are using the water for cooking purposes, then it doesn’t necessarily need to be pre-boiled, so long as it is going to be boiled throughout the cooking process. The HPA also recommends that you should really use a kettle instead of pots and pans to prevent yourself from being scalded or your children (however this is pretty much common sense, right?) and also to make sure that the pan handles are turned inwards to stop kids from grabbing them or to stop you from knocking them over. Don’t assume that water from the hot tap will be safe, because it won’t! Boil it prior to drinking it, that’s the absolute rule, no exceptions.

When water bowsers are used (large lorries transporting water) then the HPA advises that water from these should be safe to drink, however, you should still boil it firstly. They go on to say that this is due to the fact that the containers you use to distribute bowser-water, from the lorry and into your home, might not be clean enough. To tell the truth; this should also be pretty apparent to the average person, especially as it can be difficult to wash containers when water is in such short supply. For those who don’t have the means or facilities to boil the water, then bottled water becomes far more crucial. To clean water containers, the HPA say that you should use “a correctly diluted bleach solution or sterilising tablets”, thus if bleach and sterilising tablets have been missed out from the flood kit, you should add them now.

After a flood, you may need to thoroughly clean your water taps before use, this is especially true if they have been submersed in flood water. The HPA states that you need to use “hot water along with detergent prior to using them for the first time following the flood”, but they do not state where exactly you need to get the hot water from to execute this task. It is usually safe to assume that HPA means “before using them to pour drinking water”, in case you’re particularly apprehensive then you may want to source it from somewhere else. When you do turn on the taps for the very first time, you need to leave them to run for several minutes in order to clear the pipes.

Some of HPA’s additional taboo suggestions (but yet equally valid) regards toilet flushing if water has been shut off. You should only flush for solids, never urine. Save any used water from washing and dish washing for flushing. Downstairs toilets and plug holes should be have plugs put in in the case of flooding, to stop upward surges from drain pipes creating a massive mess, also weights/sandbags may need to be stacked on top of plugs to prevent them from popping out. The most important point you need to remember is that flood water is never safe to drink, and even touch. It can contain any number of waterborne contaminants, including sewage and other menacing contaminants, so you must steer clear of subjecting yourself to it wherever feasible.

In case you live in a flood risk area, you’ll probably experience issues when trying to acquire flooding insurance, however it is imperative you do obtain home insurance.