When a sewer line is obstructed, the sewage that is thick and dark can be dangerous to your health. This sewer water is extremely unclean, containing contaminants such as bacteria, viruses and pathogens. All of these contaminants can pose a serious health danger and lead to many illnesses if humans or animals are exposed. If it happens that you suffer a sewage backup on the premises of your home or business, or a toilet backup in either location, repairing either one is of the highest importance. Having this unsanitary sewer water in your home is not safe and should be removed quickly. Furthermore, to know what is causing the sewer backups may aid in preventing this potentially hazardous situation. To help you in handling sewage backups in your home or business, following is a list of things that can help:

Why Sewage Backup Occurs

  • Drain Pipe Clogs – Sewage can infiltrate your home or business when either your drain lines or the main sewer line gets clogged. For example, if one toilet creates a sewage blockage, the drain leading to that toilet, or the mainline of more toilets, will likely also be clogged.
  • Tree Roots – Trees with large roots can move into pipes and cause holes or alter the sewer line by growing around it. Even if the roots in your yard are not the issue, roots from adjoining property can reach your sewer pipe and damage it, causing a sewer backup. Always be watching for roots where your mainline to the street or septic system is placed.
  • Defective Sewer Lines – Aging sewage systems may break down and crack, causing sewage blockages and flooded homes and basements. The older your neighborhood is, the greater chance of these types of issues.
  • Heavy Rainfall – Heavy amounts of rain can overburden your city’s storm sewer lines. If the public systems can’t handle large amounts of rainfall, the water can make its way into attached sewer lines, which can leave your home or business at risk of sewer backflows. Area-wide flooding waters from events like rising rivers and creeks, hurricanes, and other isolated events can also combine with sewage water and other chemicals and contaminants that can lead to health-related issues. Extreme care and safety is needed when wading in these waters, and even when the flood recedes and begins to dry out. Dried up organic waste can then become aerosolized and present the possibility of breathing it into your lungs. Proper personal protective equipment (PPE) should be worn to prevent contact and the danger of breathing in these contaminants.

PuroClean’s sewage cleanup and sanitation process in Terre Haute, IN

Our cleaning and remediation procedures for Category 3 water (which describes sewer and contaminated water backup) according to the standards put in place by the IICRC industry are:

1. Ensure all employees and occupants stay safe by limiting access to the site to remediation employees only in order to thwart any health-related issues.

2. Health and Safety survey and assessment of the entire work premises.

3. Ensure all restoration personnel are equipped with the proper personal protection equipment (PPE). This includes but is not limited to:

  • Full face respirator
  • Nitrile and cut resistant gloves
  • Rubber boots with steel toes and shank
  • Entire body suit protection

4. Establish engineering controls, firm barriers if required to prevent cross-contamination.

5. Eradicating any type of potential safety risks if at all possible.

6. Clearing the site of all bulk water, soil, and contaminates.

7. Removing any and all porous and semi-porous contaminated articles that are unable to be salvaged, which includes but is not limited to:

  • Hardwood flooring
  • Padded and upholstered items
  • Gypsum board
  • Carpet, rugs, pad, or underlayment
  • Vinyl flooring and underlayment

8. Implement cleaning methods and use of EPA approved biocides and antimicrobials

9. Full physical cleaning of all structure items that remain

10. We recommend using a third-party Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) to conduct clearance testing to ensure the property is returned to a safe pre-loss state for health and safety.

11. All items and structure affected by the flooding to be dried and returned to pre-loss dry conditions

12. Post remediation cleanup of all equipment used

13. All demo materials removed from the building

For the Perfect Professional Terre Haute, IN Sewage Cleanup Company, Call PuroClean Today!

Contact the PuroClean specialists for sewage removal, cleaning and restoration. Whether it’s from a clogged toilet, flood waters or sewer pipe backups to take care of the problem for your home or business. PuroClean uses the latest, state-of-the-art equipment and cleaning systems to completely and effectively clean and restore all affected objects and structures.

The sheer quality of our sewage removal and cleaning services, along with the speed in which we deliver the work, as well as our empathy demonstrated throughout the process helps make PuroClean your perfect damage remediation and restoration firm. We vow to do everything possible and within our power to restore and rescue properties in all the towns and cities that make up our coverage areas.

*Not all PuroClean offices offer sewage cleanup and sanitation cleaning services.

"Best service we’ve ever had. Not only professional but treated you like family. Very prompt and courteous."

KITRINA & MATTHEW J

"Our basement flooded and we called two other companies. Brock answered right away and was at our house in 45 minutes. Brock and Caleb were done before we got a call back from another company. Awesome [...]

JAMIE S

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