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Emergency sewage clean puts caravan park back in business

Chris Macdonald - Sales Director - SafeGroup

By

Chris Macdonald

4 min read
  • CleanSafe Services praised for rapid response to sewage flood at a caravan park.
  • Sewage leak happened between Christmas and New Year, threatening holiday bookings.
  • CleanSafe Services operates every day including public holidays.

A back-flow event over the Christmas period caused raw sewage to flood through a toilet and shower unit in a static caravan. The caravan could not be re-let until it was thoroughly decontaminated with a professional emergency sewage clean, putting the busy leisure park’s Christmas bookings at risk.

CleanSafe Services professionals operate around the clock, 365 days a year. They carry out emergency cleaning work, even during the Christmas holiday week when many companies are closed.

Stephen Savill, CleanSafe Services Business Development Manager, said: “We carry out emergency cleaning services for many customers in the leisure and hospitality sectors, where fast turnaround is essential to a business’s profitability.

“In this case it was one unit in a leisure park, but the knock-on effect of having a unit out of action and potentially having to cancel bookings during a very busy period represented a serious loss of income. The sewage leak in itself was also detrimental to the business’s reputation and had to be dealt with very quickly.”

Expert sewage contamination site assessment

Raw sewage had forced its way up through the toilet and covered the interior of the caravan with hazardous waste.

An initial site survey was completed to assess the damage and the best way to operate in the enclosed space.

CleanSafe Services technicians brought the specialist cleaning equipment and essential protective clothing required to complete the emergency clean.

Emergency sewage cleaning processes

Cleaning operatives used a cleaning machine to suck up the top layer of sewage and water, which was safely and legally disposed of by sister company WasteSafe Services. Then they took up and removed the carpeting as it had absorbed the sewage.

After removing the contaminated carpets and soft furnishings the CleanSafe operatives also lifted the lino to check whether the foul water had penetrated it and seeped into the flooring below. Fortunately, in this case it had held the foul water and was able to be cleaned and sanitized.

The surfaces were then thoroughly chemically cleaned to kill all remaining bacteria, viruses and spores that pose a serious threat to human health. The final stage of the work was to dry the caravan and make sure all odours had been removed so there was no sign that there had ever been a sewage leak.

Expert environmental cleaning advice is essential

Stephen Savill said: “It isn’t possible to save carpet or soft furnishings after they’ve been contaminated with sewage as it is a bio-hazard and all other surfaces must be thoroughly examined. This is the reason you should never try to clean up a bio-hazard at your business yourself. We will take great care with belongings and try to save what we can, but it is always better to use a professional service.

“In the long run using a professional emergency sewage clean service is also more cost effective as you have the peace of mind that everything is done correctly. Sewage clean professionals clean the environment completely. We have the right equipment, we wear the right protective clothing and use the right chemical products safely. We also use a licensed waste collection company like WasteSafe Services to dispose of hazardous waste legally. If you do this yourself, you risk prosecution.”

Praise from the customer

CleanSafe Services’ rapid response impressed the caravan park manager who was able to re-let the caravan with no loss of business. He said, “The cleaning job was great, thank you. Very impressed with how clean it was. Many thanks again for getting this done so quickly for us.”

Chris Macdonald - Sales Director - SafeGroup
About the author

Chris Macdonald

Chris has strategic responsibility for sales development and major accounts management at SafeGroup. He was a professional footballer with Southampton FC until a series of injuries ended his career while still a teenager. Chris began working as a helpdesk controller for a national FM company in 2004. By 2013 he was its managing director. From there he joined SafeGroup in 2018, bringing with him huge expertise plus the energy, enthusiasm and drive that would have surely made him a success in the Premier League. He does, however, still enjoy playing football.

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