Dealing With Sewage Clean Up At Home

Sometimes there are certain disasters in the home we can take care of ourselves, little things like a blown fuse, a leaky tap and so on. However, there are other issues which cannot be taken care of because of our health. For example, mold and sewage related incidents should never be handled on your own, because they can have a detrimental effect on your health and well being.

So let's talk a little bit more about sewage clean up. I know, I know, it's not the nicest subject in the world! However, it's the one I had to deal with this past week. My good lady wife and I had been out and about all day caught up with work and errands. We stopped off for an early dinner before heading home, but on opening the front door we were greeted by a stench the likes of which we had never smelled before – nor do I ever wish to smell again! Our septic tank had gotten backed up causing an overflow sewage. Both the main bathroom, our en-suite and the downstairs toilet were a mess! I know enough about bacteria to know that a) I was not touching this with a barge pole and b) it had to be dealt with now!

We scooted on over to the neighbors and used their phone to call in some emergency sewage removal experts who reached us in around one hour and took care of everything quickly. Amazingly, we only had to replace the flooring in the downstairs toilet which had taken the worst hit, and a few towels etc. But because we worked fast the damage was minimal.

What really struck me though was my father's reaction when we called to see if we could stop the night with him. He asked my why I hadn't just rolled up my sleeves, pulled on some waders and cleaned the mess myself. He honestly believed that it was just a case of us young folks being too darn lazy! He was appalled when I explained all of the reasons why that was NOT a great plan!

Untreated sewage has so much more than just a bad smell. It is full of micro-organisms, bacteria and parasites which can cause a laundry list of illnesses if ingested or are able to enter the blood stream view broken skin. Sewage is classed as a bio-hazard and should be treated much the same as you might treat toxic waste! I'm betting that you'd never try to clear up a toxic spill from factory right? So why would you try to clean up sewage? It can cause a multitude of stomach illnesses, skin infections and respiratory disease. That's not something you want to mess with.