Sewage Backup Safety: Avoiding Contamination

Introduction

Sewage backups can happen when there is a blockage or failure in your sewer line or public sewer main. Raw sewage contains bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other contaminants that can cause serious illnesses. As the homeowner, it’s important to understand how to prevent sewage backups and how to safely clean up if one occurs. In this article, I will provide an in-depth guide on sewage backup safety to help you avoid contamination in your home.

How Sewage Backups Occur

Sewage backups typically occur when:

• Tree roots, grease, or other blockages cause a clog in the sewer line. Tree roots can grow into and damage sewer pipes, causing cracks and blockages. Pouring grease down drains also leads to clogs as the grease solidifies.

• A break or collapse happens in the sewer main. If the public sewer main breaks or cracks due to ground shifting, age, or excessive wear and tear, sewage can back up into homes through connected private lines.

• Heavy rainfall overflows the sewer system. Most sewers are designed to handle a certain amount of rainfall. But if heavy rains overwhelm the sewers, untreated sewage can back up into homes.

• The sewer line gets crushed or displaced. Excavation, construction, or shifting ground can crush, break, or move sewer pipes out of place, leading to backups.

Health Risks of Raw Sewage

Exposure to raw sewage poses serious health risks because it contains:

• Bacteria – Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli, etc. Can cause severe diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting.

• Viruses – Hepatitis A, norovirus, enterovirus, adenovirus. Cause a wide range of illnesses like fever, respiratory infection, stomach flu, and hepatitis.

• Parasites – Giardia, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms. Lead to diarrheal diseases, abdominal pain, nausea, weakness, and weight loss.

• Other contaminants – Chemicals, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals. Can have acute and chronic toxicity.

Raw sewage also has an extremely foul odor due to gases like hydrogen sulfide, methane, ammonia, and decomposition products.

How to Prevent Sewage Backups

Here are some tips to help prevent sewage backups in your home:

• Avoid pouring fats, oils, and grease down drains – Dispose in the trash instead. Over time grease sticks to pipe walls and causes blockages.

• Install screens/baskets over floor drains – Catches debris before entering the sewer line. Clean out regularly.

• Use a sewer jetting service – High pressure water jetting can clear mineral deposits, roots, and grease in sewer lines.

• Replace damaged sewer pipes – Cracked pipes allow root intrusion and groundwater infiltration.

• Install a backflow valve – Prevents sewage from backing up into your pipes from the main line.

• Extend downspouts away from your home – Directs roof runoff away from your foundation and sewer lines.

• Avoid planting trees over sewer lines – Roots seek out water and can invade pipes.

What to Do During a Sewage Backup

If you experience a sewage backup in your home, follow these important steps:

1. Leave the affected area immediately

• The raw sewage can make you seriously ill if you come into contact with it. Evacuate everyone from the contaminated rooms.

2. Call a professional plumber

• Do not try to unblock the sewage yourself. Contact a professional plumber to resolve the blockage and safely clean up the sewage.

3. Shut off electricity and ventilation

• Turn off power breakers and switch off any air ventilation like fans or HVAC systems drawing air into the contaminated area. This helps prevent gases and pathogens from spreading through your home.

4. Wear appropriate PPE during cleanup

• Wear gloves, goggles, face masks, and protective clothing to avoid contact with contaminated materials and buildings surfaces. Throw away used PPE after cleanup.

5. Discard porous furnishings

• Discard any contaminated carpets, mattresses, pillows, stuffed toys, or other porous items. The bacteria can remain alive in these materials even after cleaning.

6. Clean and disinfect all surfaces

• Use a high pressure water jet, followed by disinfectants effective against sewage pathogens (pine oil, phenolic, hydrogen peroxide based agents). Let surfaces dry completely to kill remaining microbes.

7. Check for hidden moisture

• Sewage may have soaked into walls or subflooring out of sight. Inspect carefully and allow such areas to completely dry before rebuilding to prevent mold issues.

Preventing Future Backups

After a backup, take steps to prevent future occurrences:

• Install a backflow prevention valve – Allows sewage to flow out but not back in through connected pipes.

• Replace damaged sewer pipes – Cracked or broken pipes are vulnerable to roots and leaks.

• Improve landscape grading – Ensures rainwater flows away from your home’s foundation and sewer lines.

• Disconnect downspouts and extend away from home – Prevents rain overflow near sewer pipe connections.

Taking proactive measures can help avoid catastrophic sewage flooding and contamination in your home. But if a backup occurs, following safety protocols immediately reduces the health risks. Work with qualified professionals to ensure proper cleanup and restoration.

Conclusion

Raw sewage exposure can make you dangerously ill. But by understanding what causes backups, taking preventative steps, and responding appropriately during an event, you can greatly reduce the contamination risks to your home and family. Making sewage safety a priority safeguards health and avoids expensive, stressful cleanup projects down the road.