Water Removal And Extraction Methods

After a water incident, water removal must be performed as a matter of urgency because if water is on the premises for long you run the risk of growing bacteria and other organisms which are hazardous to health. This is especially true of floodwaters but fresh water is never safe either. In addition to bringing disease-causing bacteria, such water could move further from the source area and contaminate or damage more property.

Several drying out techniques could be used, the oldest and most common one being air drying. Air drying is a simple and inexpensive method that works by improving airflow circulation. This speeds up the evaporation process by moving moisture-saturated air and allowing dry air to absorb moisture. In its simplest form, air drying involves the opening up of doors and windows to allow fresh air in. Faster results can however be achieved if fans are used as they circulate larger volumes of air.

Water removal and extraction can also be achieved by dehumidification - the use of a device that removes moisture from the air to reduce humidity. Dehumidification is crucial especially in high humidity areas and helps stabilize the environment after a water damage event. This water removal process promotes faster drying especially for building materials such as drywall, flooring, carpets and furniture.

A device that could be employed for dehumidification is the refrigerant dehumidifier. This circulates moist air through cold coils, reduces its temperature to the saturation point where moisture condenses and is collected into a bucket. This is a highly effective device and can remove up to 5 gallons in 24 hours. Its main disadvantage is that it becomes less effective when the air becomes cooler.

Water removal from the air can also be done using a desiccant dehumidifier. Desiccants are materials with high affinity to water vapor and absorb water as they go through physical or chemical changes.
Another dry out technique is freezer drying. Mainly used to dry paper items - books, photos and documents - it is a slow process and the items might take a bit of time before they are actually dry.

Where the volumes of paper to be dried are large, vacuum freeze drying could be employed. This is the method that dries under vacuum conditions through a process known as sublimation - the process by which solid frozen waters are converted into vapor.

An alternative method for drying paper is vacuum thermal drying and it is employed to dry paper that could be slightly or even extensively damaged. Using this method, books are placed in a vacuum thermal drying chamber when wet or frozen and they dry as vacuum conditions start and heat is pumped into the chamber.

Another water removal technique is Thermaline or Cryogenic drying. A rather expensive technique, this water removal process utilizes low temperature freezers and an advanced variation of freezer drying in a more active approach. Its major strength is that when correctly applied it does not distort materials and is the preferred method for water removal on rare books.

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Isolde Weery discusses house structure problems for Melville, NY water removal and Nassau County, NY Water Removal Service

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