Is It Safe to Stay in a House with a Sewage Backup?

Find out how dangerous sewage truly is.

When Do Sewage Backups Happen

Backups occur when wastewater flow is disrupted, forcing sewage back into homes. Common causes of this include:

Blocked sewer lines from trash, wipes, diapers, and other non-biodegradable items.
Tree roots breaking through pipes.
Heavy rainfall or flooding that overwhelms combined sewer systems.

Should You Stay in the House with Sewage?

In most cases, no.

A healthy and fit adult might manage to clean up very small spills with proper protection.

Even then, move kids and elderly family members to safety immediately to adjacent rooms, outside, or a friend’s or a neighbor’s house.

If you have pets, move them outside or use a boarding service.

When sewage spreads across floors, into multiple rooms, or from upper levels into ceilings and stairs, leave the home, despite how healthy, fit, and capable you might consider yourself to be.

These situations require professional cleanup crews with protective gear, drying systems, and sanitization products, like the ones we employ here at Superior Contract Cleaning.

Why Is Sewage So Dangerous?

Sewage has a lot of bacteria, viruses, and parasites that pose serious health risks:

E. coli
Enterococci
Norovirus & Rotavirus
Giardia & Cryptosporidium
And others.

Besides these pathogens, sewage contains feces, urine, chemicals, pesticides, and organic waste, which are substances no one should touch or breathe near.

Again, children, pets, and the elderly are at the biggest risk.

In case you have a sewage backup anywhere in Lafayette Parish, feel free to call Superior Contract Cleaning for immediate assistance.

Sewage is “category 3” water damage, which is the most dangerous of them all. As such, you need to let only the best of the best clean it up.

Call us by dialing the number below!