In what has to be one of the most stunning visualizations of how many of us feel about government, a clogged toilet resulted in a burst pipe, sending large amounts of raw sewage cascading across the 4th floor and down through lower floors of the Santa Cruz County Government Center.
The burst pipe occurred Friday evening, resulting in power being shut down to the building around 7PM. Water had already been flowing freely into other areas for about a half hour at that point.
Sgt. Beckman (no first name) of the local Sheriff’s office said “It caused severe damage, including damage to the Sheriff's Office and various other county offices.”
The building’s power remains off today as fire crews and sheriff’s deputies work at removing the water from the affected floors. Those present described the water as “coming down like a rain storm”.
Virtually all records were affected by the spill, and computers were pulled offline in an attempt to prevent any further damage from water dripping and pouring from the ceiling. The full extent of the damage was not determined over the weekend, and it was doubtful that the facility would be open by Monday.
“It looks like it's going to take quite a bit of work to get the operations of various county facilities that were damaged to be what they were on Friday before this happened,” said Sgt. Beckman.
Of course clogged toilets can be a pain, but they can also be health hazards if they overflow or, in this case, cause a pipe to burst. The material involved is highly contaminated, and may cause serious illness and discomfort if exposed to humans or animals.
The type of water is called Category 3 Water or, more commonly, Black Water, infested with parasites, bacteria, and all manner of viruses that are harmful to humans.
Category 1 and 2 Water is less dangerous to one’s health, and smaller spills may be successfully remediated by home or business owners. In the case of larger spills, particularly those involving any sort of contaminate, it is always advised to bring in a professional.
Professional restoration providers, such as those from Water Damage Local.com, understand and make use of the proper procedures, techniques, and equipment to establish a system for methodically removing the water and drying everything out. Affected surfaces will also need to be disinfected and sanitized (perhaps several times) to ensure that no harmful material remains that could pose a problem later on.
Water Damage Local.com guarantees 24/7 emergency service, with a technician out to your home within an hour or so of your call to assess your problem and begin the water restoration process. Our providers are all IICRC certified and able to handle a full range of repair and restoration processes including water extraction and drying, carpet cleaning and mold removal, as well as structural repair that may be required. All work is guaranteed for a period of one year, which means you can rest assured of a quality job done right.
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