There are many reasons to why your drains get blocked from time to time. It might be because you accidentally flushed something inappropriate down the toilet or you've disposed of a lot of cooking oil down your sink that has now coagulated in the pipes. If you've got a serious blockage, this could cause a flood in your home of dirty sewage water. When this happens you need to call an emergency plumber as soon as possible to not cause any damage to your home. What you should also consider during an emergency like that is the damage it could cause to your health and what you can do to prevent health repercussions.

Cleaning the room

Blocked drains usually cause flooding in the bathroom first, as this is where most appliances hooked to the pipes are located. As a first course of action you should clean out the bathroom. Throw away all toothbrushes and hygienic products. Wash things like shampoo bottles thoroughly and empty the bathroom cabinet of medicine, towels, and make up. You need to do this to make sure none of these items are infected with the bacteria coming from the drain. Your toothbrushes are especially important to get rid of as they make you actually ingest the bacteria rather than just touching it.

Hygiene

Personal hygiene is the most important thing when dealing with blocked drains. Wash your hands immediately after you've been in touch with the flooding water. Also wash them before preparing food or before leaving the house to not give the bacteria to someone else accidentally. Make sure you disinfect any tools you might use to handle the blocked pipes or anything nearby them. If you use a bucket, for example, to scoop up water, this should be disinfected before being brought out in an uninfected area.

Appropriate gear and handling of clothes

If you have to go in to the bathroom while it's flooded before the plumber arrives, make sure you use the proper gear. Wear rubber boots and rubber gloves so the water has no chance of touching your bare skin. Don't wear any sensitive clothes if the water would get to them, as you'll need to wash them after being exposed to the infected water. It might also be a good idea to wash all clothes that have been used in the house while the flood is happening. The bacteria shouldn't be able to live very long in fabric, but the smell and the dirt can still stick to clothes, even if they were washed only shortly before the flooding took place.

For more information on what to do when blocked drains cause flooding, talk to a plumber with experience dealing with emergency blocked drains.

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