Sewage spill in house what sanitisation?

sparkiemalarkie

Hi we had some escaped sewage in the cavity under the floorboards of our house.


The sewage was pumped out by Thames water but wasn't sanitised other than half a bottle of disinfectant poured neat through the hole in the floorboards.


The waste had come from a neighbours broken pipe and had passed through his outside wall, under his floorboards and then through the party wall under the house so there wasn't any 'debris' to clear up.


I would like this area sanitised as my son sleeps in the most affected room.


What do I need to achieve this ….who do I need to talk to?


The surveyor from the insurance company came today and said that we would be better to employ someone privately as we have a £300 excess.
But I don't know who I need to employ....


any suggestions please?


tia


sparkie x

greyteam1959

Surely it is up to Thames Water to sanitise the area ??
Take it up with them.
I certainly would not be paying anything myself or involving my household insurance.

Davesnave

greyteam1959 wrote: »

Surely it is up to Thames Water to sanitise the area ??
Take it up with them.

Maybe. The salient point is whether it was exclusively the neighbour's pipe where the escape occurred, or if it came from a pipe shared at that point with others.

Shared pipes are the responsibility of the water authority. People's own pipes are their problem. It's unclear here which this is, though Thames cleared up, which suggests they had some responsibility.

It's not clear either who poured the disinfectant. Maybe that was deemed enough. I would think something like Dettox sprayed through the hole with a garden sprayer lance would be the cheapest solution, without also stinking the place out.

However, the risk is low and it'll soon dry up.

sparkiemalarkie

Thanks for the replies
It was the neighbours private sewer pipe that was broken. However,the flood was caused by a blocked communal sewer that backed up through the neighbours private sewer pipe and out through the cracked pipe and into the surrounding soil.
it then filtered in through the neighbours walls and into our space.


Thames water splashed in the disinfectant after they pumped out the water.


I was told by Thames Water that I had to report the incident to my insurance company.


sparkie

EachPenny

sparkiemalarkie wrote: »

The sewage was pumped out by Thames water but wasn't sanitised other than half a bottle of disinfectant poured neat through the hole in the floorboards.

..which is what I was going to suggest before reading your full post. This is what local authorities would do 25 years ago when they cleared up sewage spills on behalf of Thames Water.

I'm sure an emergency plumbing service could apply 5 litres of "SanPro10000" at £50 per litre, but bog standard disinfectant is probably equally effective - unless the surface is one used for food storage/preparation, in which case I'd suggest ripping it out and replacing it.

sparkiemalarkie wrote: »

I would like this area sanitised as my son sleeps in the most affected room.

What do I need to achieve this ….who do I need to talk to?

If the sewage was limited to the space under the floorboards then I'm not sure what you are hoping to achieve by 'sanitising' it.

Short of using a different brand of disinfectant, the only other option would be to pay someone to lift the floorboards, scrape up everything underneath them (probably a couple of tons of building waste) and then powerwash the concrete underfloor (if there is one). In the process of removing the tons of building waste anything 'nasty' under the floorboards will be spread around your house and garden requiring further cleanups and sanitisation.

As others have suggested, try to forget there is anything there, because nature - as if by magic - will ensure there isn't, given the space of a couple of weeks.