Understanding Flood Damage Contamination in Phoenix

11/10/2017 (Permalink)

Flood damage brings contaminated water into your home, SERVPRO works quickly to remove the water and restore your home.

SERVPRO Properly Removes Contaminated Water from Your Home after a Flood

This last year, Phoenix and the rest of the country has seen extreme weather drop incredible amounts of water in just a few hours. Hurricanes and thunderstorms have overwhelmed sewer and drain systems from Florida to California. Dams have burst and levees and rivers crested, wiping out small towns and causing billions of dollars in damages in major cities.

Flood damage in Phoenix from storms also brings the threat of contaminated water. The soil is the most common contaminant, but other sources include something as simple as the water a flood pushes back through a washing machine. The additional risk to a home increases the cost of cleanup and makes the remediation and restoration services SERVPRO provides more critical than if the water was clean.

The first step we take is to lift property off the floor. When contaminated water is in the carpets, sofas and other furniture have to be placed on blocks or taken out of the home. It helps water to drain from the property items, increase airflow around them and also prevents furniture from leaving stains on floors and carpets.

We start to clean Items with surface contamination immediately, and then we inspect all property again to determine the right method. We prefer to use brushes to remove as much of the contaminants as possible if it does not spread it or damage the surface. It is effective on hard surfaces but less effective on upholstered furniture or delicate fabrics like heavy drapes or curtains.

To remove stains, SERVPRO technicians have a very broad inventory of commercial-grade detergents and anti-microbial agents that can clean heavy soils and neutralize the health threat of any contaminants. If the amount of soil is too thick or the item has been under water for an extended amount of time, we use an immersion tank that generates sonic waves to force cleaning agents through the property item.

Remediating the effects of a flood is difficult, but SERVPRO of Phoenix has the equipment, training, and experience to help you through the procedures. If you need our help or simply have a question, call us at (480) 503-2090.

Visit https://www.phoenix.gov/ to learn more about the city of Phoenix.