What Are the 3 Types of Contaminated Water?

12/12/2019 (Permalink)

Water categories

Which Type of Water Is Safe Or Unsafe In Your Home

For all its utility, water can be very dangerous under certain circumstances. Those include following a flood when contaminated water can invade homes and set the stage for serious illness. Keep reading for answers to which type of water is safe or unsafe in your East Dundee,IL, home and why.

Flood Side Effects

Anyone who has experienced a home flood knows how devastating they can be. Besides making portions of your home immediately uninhabitable, floods can create a seemingly endless number of after-effects such as:

• Mold and mildew
  
• Property damage
  
• Bacterial contamination
  
  

The last item is one that doesn’t occur to most homeowners. However, floodwater can be a major source of disease depending on where it came from and its method of contamination. There are generally three levels of contamination.

Clean Water

This is the best type of water to face. Also called category 1 water, it comes from faucets, toilet tanks, appliance supply lines and even melting snow. It hasn’t contacted human or animal waste. Its biggest threat is causing mold growth in your home.

Gray Water

Also called category 2 water, gray water is the intermediate dirty water type. This water is best described as mildly contaminated. Sourced from washing machines, sinks and the like, it hasn’t met with fecal matter but it can still cause mild illness. If given enough time, this water can progress to the worst flood water type.

Black Water

Also referred to as category 3, this contaminated water type is unequivocally unsafe. Sourced from outdoor flood waters or even sewage, this water is usually rich with chemicals and disease-causing organisms and must be professionally removed fast.
Contaminated water is often an unexpected but serious side effect of home flooding. If you’re facing a home flood and aren’t sure if you can safely remove water, contact a water cleanup specialist for advice on how to proceed.