Infection control and disinfection services in Pittsburgh, PA

Infection control cleaning is the step that makes a contaminated space safe to use again. It is not a wipe-down. It is a planned job with a start, a middle, and a check at the end. Here is what it covers:

• Containment, so the contamination does not spread to clean rooms.
• Removal of soaked porous materials that cannot be made safe.
• Cleaning every surface the water or fluid touched with detergent first.
• Disinfection of those surfaces with an EPA-registered product, left wet for the full contact time.
• Drying the space so the germs that need moisture cannot come back.
• A written record of what came out, what was treated, and what the meters read.

We do this in houses and in businesses. A flooded basement in Tarentum and a backed-up restroom in a Pittsburgh office get the same steps. The size changes. The order does not.

Not every water loss needs disinfection. A clean supply line that breaks and gets dried the same day is mostly a drying job. Contaminated water is different. The ANSI/IICRC S500 standard calls it Category 3 water. It is "grossly contaminated" and "can contain pathogenic, toxigenic or other harmful agents." Sewage is the common one. Rising river or creek water is another. The CDC says floodwater can carry dangerous bacteria from overflowing sewage and from farm and industrial waste.

Blood and body fluids are their own class. OSHA defines bloodborne pathogens as "infectious microorganisms in human blood that can cause disease in humans." That is why a trauma scene gets the same containment and disinfection as a sewage loss, plus the extra care the OSHA bloodborne pathogen standard asks for.

So the short list of jobs that call for infection control cleaning looks like this:

• A sewer backup through a floor drain, toilet, or tub.
• Floodwater from a creek, a river, or a storm that came in off the street.
• Clean water that sat for days and turned.
• A trauma scene or unattended death.
• A restroom, kitchen, or care room in a business after any of the above.

If you are not sure which kind of loss you have, call. We will ask a few questions and tell you straight.

We use EPA-registered disinfectants. The EPA keeps lists of products that are proven to work against named germs. There is a list for bloodborne pathogens like HIV and hepatitis B and C. There is a list for norovirus. There is one for C. diff spores, one for MRSA, and one for the virus that causes COVID-19. Products that appear on those lists are the hospital-grade products you have heard about. We pick the product to match the loss, and we follow the label.

The label matters more than the brand. The EPA is plain about it. A product only works against the germs printed on its label. And it only works if the surface stays visibly wet for the whole contact time. That is the number of minutes the product has to sit before it has done its job. Spray and wipe is not disinfection. Spray, wait the full time, then wipe is. If the surface dries early, you apply more and wait again. You can read the EPA's own guidance on selected EPA-registered disinfectants.

Bleach has a place. It is not the plan. Bleach does nothing for soaked drywall or carpet pad, and it loses strength fast on dirty surfaces. Dirt has to come off first, then the disinfectant goes on. That order is why cleaning and disinfection are two separate steps on every job we run. For the homeowner version of this, read our guide to cleaning and disinfecting after water damage.

Here is the order of work on a contaminated loss. It follows the S500 standard, which "describes the procedures to be followed and the precautions to be taken" in homes, businesses, and institutional buildings.

1. Contain the area. Plastic sheeting and tape seal the wet zone off from the rest of the building.
2. Gear up. Rubber boots, gloves, goggles, and a respirator, which is what the CDC says to wear when sewage is involved.
3. Extract. Standing water and sewage come out with pumps and vacuums.
4. Remove. Drywall and insulation that touched sewage or floodwater get cut out and bagged. The CDC says to discard them, and we do.
5. Clean. Every hard surface gets scrubbed with hot water and detergent to lift the soil.
6. Disinfect. The EPA-registered product goes on and stays wet for the full contact time.
7. Dry. Air movers and dehumidifiers run until the meters say the structure is dry.
8. Verify. We read moisture levels and walk the space with you before we call it done.

Drying is part of infection control, not a separate job. The CDC notes that mold grows where there is moisture, and it tells homeowners to dry out a flooded home within 24 to 48 hours. A disinfected room that stays damp just grows a new problem. That is why our IICRC certified technicians run the drying equipment on every contaminated loss until the readings are right.

If you are reading this during a backup and want the step-by-step for that specific mess, see sewage cleanup after a backup. The disinfection on this page is the same work, written for any contaminated loss.

A clean-looking room is not proof. The proof is the record. On every job we photograph the loss before work starts, log what was removed and what was cleaned, and write down the disinfectant used and its contact time. Moisture readings go in the same file. Your adjuster gets a job file that answers the questions before they are asked. We bill your insurance company directly, and you choose your own contractor.

You may have heard of ATP testing. It is a swab and a meter that reads how much organic residue is on a surface. The CDC describes it as a quick, objective check that is run before and after cleaning. The CDC also lists its limits. It has low sensitivity and specificity, and there is no agreed-on number that means "clean." So we treat ATP as a check on our own work, not as a certificate of safety. What we hand you is the record of what was removed, what was treated, and how dry the structure reads. That record holds up.

We are a water, sewage, and mold crew, and we have been since 2009. Some things sit outside that line, and we will say so on the phone:

• We do not do mold testing. If you want air or surface samples, we refer you to an independent hygienist. We never test our own work.
• We do not provide medical care or advice. If someone was exposed to sewage or blood, call a doctor.
• We do not fix the pipe. Line repair goes to a plumber.
• We do not rebuild. Our work ends at a clean, dry, documented structure.

If mold has already started, that is a separate job with its own containment. Read about mold remediation when growth has already started for how that runs.