Different classes of water damage

3/4/2020 (Permalink)

All water damages are not the same. You would need to treat this water damage differently than you would a leaking pipe.

The different classifications of water damage will determine what items can be salvaged and what items cannot be saved, as well as the drying protocols.  The three classes of water damage are:

• Clean water - Water that has virtually no contaminates, such as a supply line going to a washing machine.
• Grey water - Water that has been used, contains some contaminates, but does not have any animals waste in it.  An example would be that same washing machine that overflowed, and soapy water is discharged onto the floor.
• Black water - This water is the nastiest of them all, a sewage back up or storm flooding.  This water will be highly contaminated.

Water that is undiscovered and is not mitigated properly and quickly can deteriorate and go from one class to another.  Your clean water damage left standing 3-5 days will now be classified as grey water, since it had a chance to pick up microbes, bacteria, etc.  Grey water not properly mitigated will transform to a black water loss in just 2-3 days, again due to deteriorating conditions.

If you have suffered a water loss in your home or business, call the water clean up experts at SERVPRO Bedford Park/Burbank at 708-430-3600 right away.  We'll come out, assess the situation, and set up a plan to get you back to normal ASAP.