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Water Damage Recovery Microbiological Contamination Threatens Documents
September, 2008
By Tom McGuire
Water infiltration can cause irreparable damage to paper documents, microfiche, film and other records that become wet, soaked or soiled. The loss of such critical information can severely compromise businesses' records history, operational effectiveness and service levels, and even place some companies in breach of document retention laws.
Response time is key to document recovery. Inks can break down making the text illegible. Dirt, grime and microorganisms can penetrate the paper, while mould and mildew often grow quickly on water-soaked documents.
Drying techniques must be employed as soon as possible to eliminate the moisture that fungi use as a food source to grow. Otherwise, the microbiological contamination and associated objectionable odours can make recovery more difficult and expensive.
A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) should define and prioritize the recovery and restoration of areas within a facility. Pre-selecting a professional restoration provider can also help ensure a rapid response. The first 24 hours is often a critical timeframe to minimize the effects of water.
Document recovery firms can provide consulting and project management services. The project scope should be provided at the front end - quantifying the damage, determining what can be saved and recommending the process. Look for the company's ability to assemble a cohesive work team, provide rapid emergency response and turnkey operation for recovery and restoration, and guarantee results.
SALVAGE PROCESS
The restoration provider should stabilize the documents and assist with relocation efforts to a facility for processing. Freezing is typically the first step in the process of salvaging water-damaged documents and this stage also buys time for the restoration decision-making process to take place.
To halt deterioration and for optimum recovery success, documents should be frozen within 24 to 48 hours. Freezer-equipped truck trailers or blast freezers are used for this stage and the frozen materials are stored until the drying procedure begins. Blast freezing is also a successful technique to kill infestations such as silverfish.
Depending upon the type and extent of damage and the materials involved, one of two primary drying methods may be used.
With desiccant drying, stabilized documents are removed from packing cases and placed on racks and shelves in a large vault-like room. Through the use of desiccant dehumidification, the room atmosphere is maintained at about 20 to 25( C (68 to 78( F) and 12% humidity.
Desiccant dehumidifiers use changing vapour pressures to dry air continually in a repeating cycle. Continuously moving dry air created in the room should remove moisture from documents in one to seven days.
Alternatively, vacuum freeze-drying is used in cases in which documents such as books or journals tend to warp or distort during desiccant drying. In such cases, it is important to save not only the paper, but also the integrity of the binding.
The frozen materials are placed in an airtight chamber in which negative vacuum pressure is introduced, causing moisture in the documents to turn to gas. The gas is then expelled from the chamber, where it is condensed into liquid and discarded. As a result, the documents go from a frozen state to a dry state without ever returning to the liquid state.
Nevertheless, if books are severely distorted, vacuum drying alone will not return the books to a useable state. Rebinding or re-casing may be necessary.
Cleaning is a critical process that should be completed by trained professionals to remove dirt, grime and - most importantly - fungi spores. Staff should clean each document using such materials as specialized rubber sponges and scrub pads, while avoiding the application of liquid solutions that would reactivate the moisture and cause further damage to the materials.
Once documents are cleaned, they are assembled into new boxes, relabeled according to the inventory and returned to the owner.
Tom McGuire is National Catastrophe & Document Recovery Manager with Munters Moisture Control Services. For more information, see the web site at www.munters.com.
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