The Different Types of Floodwaters

8/11/2019 (Permalink)

Floodwaters can cause major damage in your home or business. After a flood, it's important to immediately begin cleanup in order to avoid creating even more damage, like mold growth. 

When assessing a flood, it's important to understand which type of floodwater has affected the home or business. There are three separate kinds of floodwaters, and they're classified by the water source, its contents and its history. 

1. Clean water- This is water that does not pose an immediate health risk. This water does not have contaminants and could include things like toilet holding tanks or malfunctioning appliances amongst others like rain or snow melt. 
2. Gray water-These waters could cause a health risk, because they could contain biological or chemical contaminants. This could include discharge from a dishwasher or a laundry machine or water from sinks or showers.
3. Black water-This is a definite health risk. These have definite contaminants with it. The floodwaters contain soil and sewage and the microbes will almost always cause illnesses. 

With these different flood waters, it's important that they are a taken care of quickly, because even clean water can turn into grey water in as little as 48 hours. 

SERVPRO of Norridge/Harwood Heights can clean up your home after flood damage quickly and effectively.