Sewage Testing

What is Sewage?

Sewage is water-carried waste usually in a solution or suspension form mostly known as wastewater.

Wastewater from sewage pumps in residential and commercial buildings carries body waste (usually feces, urine, and semen) and bacteria throughout vast plumbing systems into sewer systems plants where it is treated and disposed of.

Sewage backups are very common in residential and commercial buildings where a blockage of waste is stopped causing sewage to backflow up from drains, cleanouts, showers, and toilets.

When water is used, it becomes wastewater. Wastewater is classified in three different ways, each of which shows a different level of water contamination:

• Category I Clean Water: This first category refers to clean water that does not contain any contaminants. It refers to wastewater that has come from toilet tanks, appliances that have broken down, water lines that have broken, rainwater, and water from melting snow. This water is initially free from anything that could contaminate it, but it can sometimes turn into the second category once it has been exposed.
• Category II Gray Water: The second category is known as gray water. This is the water that comes from or is discharged from appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, sinks, showers, and even things like waterbeds or hot tubs. This can pose a potential risk to health as it can have biological or chemical contamination. The longer it is left without removal or treatment, the worse it becomes. In as little as two days it can turn into the most serious category.
• Category III Blackwater: The third and final category is known as Blackwater. This is the name for wastewater that comes from broken sewer pipes, septic tanks, or leaking and broken bathroom appliances and toilets. It can also occur in floodwater. Blackwater will almost always be a contaminant risk.