Sewage Cleanup in Toronto and the GTA

What Makes Sewage a Category 3 Job

The IICRC classifies water in three categories. Category 1 is clean water from a supply line. Category 2 is used water from an appliance. Category 3 is grossly contaminated water carrying bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, and sewage backup is the definitive example.

The practical consequence is that the rules change. In a Category 1 loss we dry materials in place wherever we can. In a Category 3 loss, porous materials that made contact are not salvageable regardless of how they look. Carpet, underpad, drywall below the water line, particleboard, and insulation all come out and get disposed of properly.

This is also why sewage work needs proper personal protective equipment and negative-air containment. It is the same reason a homeowner should stay out of the area entirely until it is contained.

What Causes Sewage Backups in Toronto Homes

Toronto's combined sewer system carries stormwater and sanitary waste in the same pipe across much of the older city. During heavy rainfall the system can exceed capacity, and the overflow finds the lowest opening available, which is often a basement floor drain.

• •Combined sewer overload during major storms, common across older Toronto and Scarborough neighbourhoods.
• •Collapsed or root-blocked clay laterals in homes built before the 1970s, where the line to the street is original.
• •Failed backwater valve, or no backwater valve at all.

If your basement has flooded from a storm rather than a backup, our basement flooding cleanup page covers that scenario. Floor drain backups were among the most common calls after the September 2 storm, and our write-up of those jobs covers what we found.

Our Sewage Cleanup Process

Containment goes up first. The affected area is isolated under negative air pressure with HEPA filtration so nothing migrates into the rest of the house while we work. Crews are in full PPE for the duration.

From there: extraction of the contaminated water, removal and disposal of affected porous materials, cleaning and antimicrobial treatment of everything that remains, structural drying with monitoring until the materials reach normal moisture levels, and deodorization. We document the whole sequence for your insurer. Sewage backup is one of the more commonly covered claims, and our insurance claims support page explains how the billing works.