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Fire & Water - Cleanup & Restoration

What might be LURKING in flood water??

12/30/2019 (Permalink)

Flood water surrounding a Home Flood water affecting a home.

After being properly trained on how to handle different types of water damage, team members at SERVPRO of Dubuque no longer play in flood water....

Flood water is considered by the IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification) part of the definition of Category 3 – grossly contaminated water.

Flood water shares Cat 3 with other water sources such as: sewage, waste line back-flows, water polluted by toxic materials such as pesticides and toxic organic substances.

(For more information on the other water classifications, see our blog on the subject here: https://www.SERVPROdubuque.com/blog/post/184256/water-damage-restoration/the-3-different-categories-of-a-water-damage)

Flood water can be water that originated from seas, rivers or streams.  It is potentially contaminated with toxic chemicals, dangerous microorganisms and sewage related pathogens.

These are excellent reasons to not splash around in flood water!  Less obviously, it is the reason that any porous materials in your home that have been affected by Category 3 water, including flood water, should be removed and disposed of.

Property owners are often reluctant to remove and dispose of carpet or baseboard and the bottom few inches of drywall that have been affected by flood water.  There is no way to clean these porous materials in a way to completely remove the potential hazards that were deposited there by flood water.  Once they consider that their children or grandchildren will likely be crawling around on carpet that is likely contaminated by pathogenic microbes, they often change their minds.

So, in addition to cringing when you see the neighborhood kids splashing around in flood waters, give additional consideration to just cleaning up flood water in your property without addressing potential hazards.  Better yet, call the water damage experts at SERVPRO of Dubuque, we are always here to help.

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