IICRC Categories of Water Contamination Relating to Flood Restoration
The reasons for categorizing water contamination relate to health and safety, and to the possibility of salvaging, restoring, and saving property that sustains water damage. Clean water is still harmful to your property. The longer you wait to have professional water damage remediation specialists take care of the problem, the greater the likelihood that the water will move to the next level of contamination
Category 1 – Clean Water
Category 1 is clean water that isn’t contaminated yet. Typical causes of water damage from this category are things like burst pipes, an overflowing toilet tank, or even the bowl, as long as there are no chemicals or contaminants in the water.
Don’t hesitate to contact professionals to handle water damage repair related to problems associated with clean water. We can restore your property to the condition it was in before it sustained water da age. Flood restoration needs to be completed within less than 72 hours to prevent the water from moving to the next level of contamination.
Category 2 – Gray Water
Gray water is slightly contaminated. While you wouldn’t want to drink it, in some places, people use gray water to their grass or outdoor plants. Gray water is usually contaminated with soap, some urine, and possibly particles or debris. As long as water damage and flood restoration are completed in less than 48 hours, you won’t be anxiously fearing that the water will become dangerously contaminated.
Water damage restoration specialists will be able to remove the water and contaminants from carpeting. They will use hot water extraction to remove the water and clean and sanitize the carpeting. Although the carpet can be saved, the carpet pad will need to be removed and replaced.
Category 3 – Black Water
Blackwater is the most severe level of water contamination. When your home or business is flooded because of storm surge, the water that enters a structure may be seawater that’s contaminated with debris from outside. When the municipal water filtration system goes down because of a hurricane, or something causes the sewer system to malfunction, sending raw sewage into your home, your property sustains damage from black water. This level of contamination poses long-term health hazards that make it impossible for water damage restoration specialists to repair damage to rugs, carpets, rug or carpet pads, or upholstery.