Conditions of Water from your Water Loss

4/7/2021 (Permalink)

Many times, the question comes up about terminology associated with water conditions and variables!

Basically, there are two aspects of water conditions that we observe and determine how to approach the loss, these are: Category and Class of water and their impact on the loss.

Category of Water: the categories of water, refer to the range of contamination in water, where did the water come from and what materials did it contact?

Category 1: Category 1 water, or clean water comes from a sanitary water source such as broken water supply line, sink or tub overflows where there is no contamination or toilet tanks which have no additives or other contamination.

Category 1 water may deteriorate into other categories (to follow) over time

Category 2: Category 2 water, sometimes called grey water contains some level  contamination .

Category 2 water can include overflow from dishwasher or washing machines in active use,

overflows from toilet bowls above the trap with some urine but no feces; overflow from vessels containing standing water are potentially a source of “grey water”

Category 2 water may deteriorate into other categories (to follow) over time

Category 3: Category 3 water or black water is grossly contaminated water and requires specialized handling.

Category 3 water can include, but are not limited to: sewage; waste line

backflows that originate from beyond any trap regardless of visible content or color;” other source of “black water” may include flooding from seawater; rising water from rivers or streams; and other contaminated water entering or affecting the indoor environment”.

Class of water: class of water is broken into class1-4 and estimate the amount of water your materials are saturated or in other words the amount of wet surface area and affected material (drywall, particle board carpet etc.) ability to absorb and hold water.

Class 1 —Water intrusion (least amount) where wet, materials are approx. 5% of the affected area or less of porous materials

Class 2 —Water intrusion (significant amount of water) 5% to 40% of the combined floor, wall and ceiling surface area in the space

Class 3 — Water intrusion (greatest amount of water) more than ~40% of the combined floor, wall and ceiling surface area in the space

Class 4 — Special water intrusion where less or nonporous materials are involved

For assistance with any Restoration needs please call SERVPRO of Norco/Mira Loma at 951-735-6815. You may also visit http://www.SERVPROnorcomiraloma.com