Categories of Water to Consider if you Have Water Damage in your New Paltz, Kingston, Highland or Saugerties home

10/9/2019 (Permalink)

Call the professionals in water damage restoration to get you back to pre-damage condition!

Don’t assume its harmless water when you suffer a water damage in your home! There are 3 distinct categories of water in this situation: clean water, gray water and black water.

The 1^st step is always the same, clean it up and dry it out, as soon as possible is best to avoid the threat of mold growth. Keep these things in mind as it will vary the type of cleaning and remediation depending on what you’re dealing with:

1: Clean Water

Clean water doesn’t pose an immediate threat to your health. Clean water is free of bacteria, microbes and other contaminants and can be the result of snow or rain water, broken water lines, toilet holding tanks, and malfunctioning appliances.

Important Fact- it only takes 48 hours and contact with the surfaces of a home for clean water to become a category 2- Gray Water.

2: Gray Water

Gray water means the water damage cleanup and restoration can become a bit more serious. This water may create a health risk since it will contain degrees of chemical, viral or biological contamination. It has the potential to cause illness if contacted or consumed.

Gray water occurs from toilet bowls, sump pump failures, dishwashers, aquariums, washing machines and showers. The 48-hour exposure time applies here as well, since gray water becomes black water if not treated.

3: Black Water

Where there is black water, you now have the most serious of the 3 categories, as its considered highly contaminated by harmful chemicals, fungi and biological matter and will cause severe discomfort and illness. The sources are toilet back flows, sewage, seawater, rising water from rivers or streams, ground surface water or standing water.

It is best to treat all waters associated with water damage as black water because water picks up contaminants along its path. Consider the example of water running inside the sheet rock walls and insulation of your home.

The three classifications of floodwater are recognized by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Remediation Certification (IICRC), an organization that certifies and sets the standards for the cleaning and restoration industries. Our technicians are certified by IICRC standards and best practices in water restoration and are available to help determine the steps to take to get your home back to normal.

It doesn’t matter what type of water has caused damage to your home or business, SERVPRO of Kingston/New Paltz is here to help get the situation under control. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need emergency cleanup and restoration services! Call us at 845-255-4334.