How Contamination Level Changes the Mitigation Process

6/2/2020 (Permalink)

Category 1 water damage comes from a clean water source

How Contamination Level Changes the Mitigation Process

All flooding is not the same. When your home floods, the first question water mitigation experts are likely to ask is "what is the source of the water?" Where the water comes from often indicates the level of contamination with which they must contend. It can tell them a lot about the process they need to use to completely restore your home to its original state.

Category 1

Category 1 water is considered clean. Your home may be flooded by a clean source:

• Broken pipe
• Leaking pipe
• Busted supply line

The water damage caused by clean water must still be repaired, but the process is pretty straightforward. The area can often be dried without having to remove a lot of damaged material.

Category 2

If flooding occurs as the result of a leak from your refrigerator or an overflowing washing machine, this is considered a Category 2 incident. Some cleaning is required, because the water may contain a few contaminants. As long as the materials involved are not saturated and can be adequately disinfected, they may not have to be removed.

Category 3

Flood damage from a storm or sewer line falls within the third level of contamination. This can complicate the cleanup process extensively. Even if the walls, floors and ceilings affected by the flood are still structurally sound, any area the contaminated water touched may still have to be removed in order to ensure all the microbes in the water are gone. Just because it doesn't look or smell dirty, that doesn't mean that it isn't. Technicians know it is better to err on the side of caution when the water comes from a source that is likely contaminated.
Understanding the mitigation process for flooding in your home can help you plan ahead. When you hear that the damage was caused by Category 3 water, you can adjust your expectations accordingly.

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