Water Restoration Professional Products

8/10/2018 (Permalink)

When contamination exists, SERVPRO of Marine City/Romeo uses professional water damage restoration products to return the loss environment to a preloss condition. Competence in this area requires an awareness of the basic types of products, understanding proper product usage, and how to explain these products to customers and/or clients.

General Chemical Terminology:

1. Antimicrobial. The word antimicrobial means literally “against microbes.” An antimicrobial agent is any chemical used “against” microorganisms to prevent their development or to limit or stop their growth (examples would be fungistats and mildewstats). The word antimicrobial can sometimes refer more generally to various chemicals registered as disinfectants, germicides, fungicides, virucides, sporicides, mildewcides, or sanitizers. 

2. Disinfectants. Disinfectants and germicides are antimicrobials that destroy about 99 percent of organisms they contact on surfaces where applied. They may or may not affect bacterial or fungal spores, which are usually dormant, reproductive bodies. 

3. Sanitizers. Sanitizers are used to decrease the number of microbials to acceptable levels. A product listed as a sanitizer reduces microbes to levels considered by public health authorities to be safe. Under the right conditions, however, the microbes may grow back.

4. Sterilizers. A sterilizer destroys all microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi spores. Sterilizing microbes in a water damage is generally not possible. Sterilizers can only be used on inanimate surfaces that can withstand the chemicals. Chlorine products are used as sterilizing agents.

5. Mildewstats and fungistats (known as “stats”) slow the growth of fungi on organic materials such as textiles, leather, and paper. They do not necessarily kill microbes, but prevent their further growth when used according to label directions. 

6. Biocides are chemical agents that destroy or kill living organisms (-cide meaning “kill”). For example, a “virucide” would kill or inactivate viruses. In the restoration industry, however, the term biocide is used generally to refer to any chemical agent that affects the growth of microbes like bacteria and fungi. Because of the general use of the term biocide, any particular product called a biocide may not actually “kill” microbes. 

7. Sporicides. A disinfectant that is effective in controlling bacterial or fungal spores when used according to label directions.