WATER DAMAGE, BEYOND SIMPLE

by Art Johnson, CR Restorations

As you will recall, the last edition of Condo Chronicle dealt with water damage and how we can do our best to prevent and be semi prepared for it. With this edition we thought that a little information on the, long term effects of improper restoration, sewer backups, mould issues, or trauma scene cleanup may be a topic of interest.

The issues raised by all of these situations make this discussion very important. More is involved than just a quick mop up, and, then just leaving it to dry on it's own. If you've noticed that, in the past, when a restoration company arrives to cleanup any of these situations, they wear gloves and masks, put on their coveralls and set up special equipment, this is a pretty good indicator that there is obviously an element of concern here.

Lets first deal with a water damage that has been left or neglected for a period of time and thus begins to give off a distinct odor. As you'll notice in the inset, even fresh water naturally goes through a transformation from potable water to one that can contain significant contamination. As time goes by microorganisms begin to amplify thus rendering the water anything but, clean and sanitary. No doubt most of us have heard of Legionnaires disease. This is something that they feel develops from water that remains standing in the cooling pans of HVAC towers or areas of pooled water in and around the built environment for an extended period of time, probably weeks or months. It appears to have an effect on individuals that have respiratory or immune deficiencies. The very old or very young may also be more susceptible than other groups. We are only using this illustration to show that under certain conditions water quality deteriorates over time and thus needs quick response when it comes to restoration.

Sewer backups or back-flows do not need this time factor to go from bad to worse. It starts out that way. If a toilet continues to run over after you flush it due to a blockage within itself at least you know where it came from, but what if, as the picture shows, sewage just continues to flow out of your toilet from, who knows what source? We have had it where this has happened just down the line from a major hospital. What is in this water: blood, disease, medicine, along with viruses, parasites and bacteria to name just a few. "Man made, or domestic sewage is relatively constant, possibly containing billions of microorganisms that contribute to its rapid degradation", says the IICRC S500 Reference guide, "This scenario can contain microorganisms that can initiate an infectious, allergic or toxic disease." Not only will this alter the decision as to what to keep or discard related to the effected building components, which your Strata insurance should cover, but also help you appreciate the need to have good quality sewer backup insurance coverage for yourselves and your prized possessions. You can imagine trying to save anything that absorbs this liquid and how hard it would be to ensure that they are sanitary enough to use again. It is a standard policy that most restoration and insurance companies consider soft fiber and personal items contaminated with sewage to be unsalvageable. This makes a sewer backup to be almost more devastating than that resulting from a fire. This also should impress upon anyone experiencing this, let the professionals clean it up. You don't want to tackle this, unless, of course, it is just that small toilet overflow from little Johnny's Lego plugging it. Even then, proceed with caution.

Mould is another area of concern of late. With all the media hoopla given this subject the world is running scared. What people fail to realize is that without mould in the world, we, as living organisms, would not exist. Nothing in the world would decompose and before long we would be up to our neck in waste, especially in the woods where it counts on decomposition for forest renewal. But to tell you the truth, as CMHC comments on, people should not live in moldy houses, for a couple of reasons. First, we should live in dry comfortable settings. Secondly, even though most people can handle a large amount of mould spores going through them as they inhale and exhale, there are a certain few that can't, or, that upon a large continual dose, become sensitive to it, and thus have an adverse reaction. The same individuals that may be at risk from a sewer flood could find themselves at risk with regards mould, the very young, old, and immune deficient.

A few suggestions to help avoid a moldy environment are:

• Maintain your humidity at a comfortable 50-60 %. This can be achieved by setting your humidistat to the desired setting and letting it do its job, utilizing the bathroom or exhaust fans.
• Always run your bathroom or kitchen fans while showering or cooking.
• Keep fresh air coming into your environment and maintain the temperature at a normal level.
• Expedited water damage remediation after a flood.
• If you find a small amount of mould around window tracks and sills clean it up with a cleaner or bleach (remember, never mix bleach with a cleaning product), some paper towels, and a good pair of gloves. When cleaning it up, dip your paper towels only once into the cleaner, wipe the area, and then dispose of the paper towel to avoid spreading the contamination.
• Maintain a good supply of air circulating inside closets, especially if these are built on the exterior of the house. These areas are susceptible to mould growth due to cold condensing areas with little or no air circulation.
• Regular maintenance of your heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

If you do find yourself with a moldy environment, seek a professional opinion. There are guidelines put out by a number of agencies for safe removal and remediation.

The only subject left for now is that of trauma scene cleanup. We'd rather not dwell on a subject that most would rather not confront. But here are some small things to consider. It does happen, so, people doing the cleanup need to be very cautious, considerate and professional. It takes a unique group to do this with special training in, proper personal protection, blood spill cleanup procedures, exposure guidelines, and provincial regulations for the disposal of biological waste.

This is not the best way to end the article but you can rest assure that there are companies out there that are prepared to carry out these tasks for you. Your property manager or Strata council are usually aware of these companies as my last article pointed out. Remember though, get references, your continued health could be in their hands.