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HOW do you get rid of the stink that comes in the aftermath of a flooded basement? Plaster the floor and walls with some hungry bacteria, says Evguenii Kozliak, who came up with the answer after his own town, Grand Forks in North Dakota, was flooded, causing heating-oil tanks to buckle and burst.

After the deluge, the fetid oily residues had worked their way into the porous concrete floors and wooden walls, making them stink to high heaven.

The householders tried sponging and mopping with detergent. They even tried “locking in” the smell by painting the walls and floors, and…

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