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Archive for ◊ February, 2010 ◊

No More Mold with Water Damage
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 | Author: PuroClean911

PuroClean Disaster Recovery Experts, a flood restoration company serving Thornton, Westminster, Broomfield, Commerce City, Denver and Colorado’s Front Range, recently advanced flood restoration technology into the 21st century. They purchased a new machine that completely re-thinks the way most companies dry flood water from homes and places of business. TES (Thermal Energy System) is a system that uses heat and air exchange far differently than conventional methods.

We live in a part of the country where our homes/businesses can be flooded by frozen/ruptured pipes or everyday accidents where pipes break and cause a flood situation. When faced with this problem, you should contact a restoration company to get he water out and dry your structure. The average restoration company will dry y our home/business in 3-6 days. This length of time can create prime conditions for mold to grow in your home. However, PuroClean Disaster Recovery Experts now dries your home/business in just 24-48 hours! They are using the new revolutionary drying system called TES (Thermal Energy System). PuroClean Disaster Recovery Experts is the only company in our market that uses TES, to dry their customers’ homes and get them back to their regular everyday life quickly, and with less rick of mold.

Mold and structure damage can occur when water is trapped in a building for long periods of time. The faster you dry the home, the less mold and structure damage you’ll have. Some restoration companies use other systems to heat up air in a building to reduce the drying time. What makes this new technology (TES) so different and exciting is that it applies heat directly to the water in the structure, not just the air. As a result, the heat (thermal energy) transfers energy to the water molecules trapped in the building material, thus exciting them and causing more of them to change from a liquid to a vapor. In school, you were taught that molecules in liquid form are constantly moving. The more you heat water, the faster the water molecules move. The faster they move, the faster the liquid changes to a vapor. It’s what’s known as escape velocity or, more commonly, evaporation. Once the water is hanging in the air in vapor form it can be blown out of the building and replaced with dry air.

What all this boils down to is that the time it takes to dry a building has now gone from a few days using conventional methods, to two days or less using TES. This of course depends on the size of the building and severity of the flood. It’s great news for anyone who suffered an ugly wake-up call from Old Mother Nature, e.g. floods and frozen pipes or something as minor as a pipe leaking behind a refridgerator (sometimes no so minor!). If the insurance coverage on your home or business is up to date, flood emergencies should be covered by it. You need to make it clear to your insurance agent or adjuster that, whatever company they hire, you want the technology and advantages of TES. TES will reduce the drying time and get your life back to normal fast. The technology is out there, and because of PuroClean Disaster Recovery Experts, it’s now available in our area.

TES is a break-through product made by Bridgepoint Systems, a Salt Lake City company that manufactures chemicals and equipment for cleaning and restoration professionals. If you have questions regarding TES, how it works, or about PuroClean Disaster Recovery Experts, please call us at 303-566-9600.


To watch an informative video on our TES system please click here

Category: Restoration  | Leave a Comment
Biohazard Remediation
Monday, February 15th, 2010 | Author: PuroClean911

Most people never think of what is involved to clean up blood or body fluids after an accident, injury, or unattended death aka Biohazard remediation. Insurance professionals may receive a call from a frantic or grieving property owner when such a loss occurs. How to proceed requires serious consideration and special attention – not only because the individuals involved are emotional or experiencing stress, but also because certain materials are hazardous.
In 1991, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) to protect workers from this risk of blood or other potentially infectious materials (BOPIM). This standard helps protect approximately 5.6 million workers in the health care industry and related occupations.

Biohazard remediation

falls within the scope of the BOPIM standard.

The standard provides regulations to protect workers from the risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens such as the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and many others. The BOPIM standard has several requirements, including:
• The use of work practice controls
• The use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Proper handling, transport, and disposal of hazardous medical waste materials
• Specific required vaccinations
• Mandatory training
• Record keeping
Hazardous medical waste includes blood and other potentially infectious materials, such as spinal fluid, peritoneal fluid, amniotic fluid, and other body fluids. PuroClean restoration professionals are aware that these materials may cause infection to others. During the cleanup process, proper steps are required to always maintain the safety of workers or other individuals near the cleanup site. All biohazard materials are assumed infectious and are treated accordingly.
As with any type of property damage, PuroClean restoration professionals ensure that their actions do not compound the sense of loss of the property owners. In traumatic situations associated with BOPIM cleanup, PuroClean restoration professionals are exceptionally sensitive to the things they say and do – especially remembering that those involved may be emotionally vulnerable. It is important to show extra care and understanding at every stage of this type of cleanup. If others are at the location, PuroClean restoration professionals empathize with the traumatic situation these people are dealing with.
It is essential to use proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help ensure the safety of workers. PPE is necessary in complying with OSHA regulations and worker safety, but varies from job to job, depending on conditions. PPE should always include full-face protection, gloves, properly designated waterproof coveralls that include feet and head protection, and if necessary, a respirator with appropriate filters. The objective of wearing PPE is to avoid potential infection by ensuring that no hazardous material enters the body through skin, eyes, mouth, nose, or any other area.
The proper use of PPE, along with comprehensive training in handling hazardous medical waste, is vital during restoration. An initial assessment will identify immediate areas of concern and determine the scope of the work involved. Once a plan is in place, remediation efforts begin as quickly as possible.
PuroClean professionals start with an initial sanitization for worker safety. All potentially infectious materials are then carefully removed from the site. Hazardous medical waste is handled in compliance with OSHA regulations, appropriately processed, and sent to a licensed hazardous medical waste incinerator. Porous materials such as fabric and carpeting are removed in accordance with industry standards and government regulations. All other affected materials that are not considered hazardous medical waste are either removed or professionally decontaminated and sanitized, depending on the situation. Remaining materials such as drywall and flooring may be sealed – usually for cosmetic reasons to cover any stains from the incident.
Typically, the removal of contaminated materials, along with cleaning and sanitizing, sufficiently controls odors. In some cases, additional deodorization may require hydroxyls or ozone processes.
As with any property loss, PuroClean restoration professionals can help bring an unfortunate situation to a satisfactory solution. PuroClean restoration professionals are trained to clean up after traumatic events in a highly professional manner. They know how to remediate biohazard situations safely and in accordance with all applicable laws and standards. If you have a homeowner or business owner with a biohazard loss, call your local independently owned and operated PuroClean office for prompt and professional service.
Regardless of the circumstances – dealing with biohazards, remediating mold, responding to water damage, or fire/smoke damage – call your local PuroClean office, the Paramedics of Property Damage™. For all property damage situations, these professionals are standing by. They will mitigate the loss to prevent further damage and will then provide restoration services to return the property to a pre-loss condition as quickly as possible. All PuroClean offices have well-trained professional Technicians who provide the latest state-of-the-science services to all property damaged from biohazard remediation, water, fire, smoke, mold, and other disasters.
written by
Will Southcombe
Director of Technical Services, PuroClean Headquarters
Master of Arts,
Master of Business Management,
Water Restoration Technician,
Applied Structural Drying,
Certified Microbial Remediator
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Reproduction of the material is prohibited without prior permission.

Category: Biohazard  | Leave a Comment