Amidst a wave of power outages due to surging storms Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDG) has issued some safety tips regarding food preservation and water protection.
If a home is not supported by an auxiliary power source critical appliances such as stoves, fridges and freezers will not work during a power outage.
The WDG Power Failure Poster indicates an unpowered fridge can keep itself cool from 4-6 hours and a full freezer will stay frozen for about two days.
Keeping the freezer stocked is critical for temperature management; a half-full freezer will keep food frozen for around 24 hours, but adding bags of ice can help.
Raw meat and other perishables can be particularly volatile, WDG said to throw out any perishables which have been sitting out for around four hours.
WDG also said those on well water should refrain from using the taps during a power outage.
Using well water during an outage could result in depressurization, which could lead to contamination.
To ensure well water is safe to drink after an outage WDG recommends residents to run the taps for a few minutes to flush out stagnant water and check-up on treatment systems.
WDG said to get the water tested for contaminants if there is no water flow once power restores or if water pressure drops.
The full release can be found on WDG’s social media.
