Sewage Cleanup in the Grand Strand

Sewage backups are one of the most hazardous water emergencies a home or business can face. Unlike clean water, raw sewage carries bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other pathogens that classify it as Category 3 "black water" under IICRC standards. Whether the cause is a backed-up main line, a failed septic system, a toilet overflow, or storm-driven flooding common along the Grand Strand, contaminated water needs to be handled quickly and correctly to protect your family, your employees, and your property.

Clean Sweep Enterprises has provided certified disaster restoration to coastal South Carolina since 1991. As a woman-owned, IICRC-certified company, we treat every sewage loss as a biohazard event: containing the affected area, extracting contaminated water, removing unsalvageable porous materials, and disinfecting every surface that came into contact with the spill. Our technicians follow established health and safety protocols and document the entire process so the job is done right the first time.

We answer the phone 24/7, because sewage damage only gets worse and more expensive the longer it sits. From the moment we arrive, we work to stop the spread, dry the structure, and restore a safe, sanitary environment. We also coordinate directly with your insurance carrier and document the loss thoroughly so you can focus on getting back to normal.

What Our Sewage Cleanup Service Includes

• 24/7 emergency response and biohazard containment
• Contaminated (Category 3) water extraction
• Removal and disposal of unsalvageable porous materials (carpet, pad, drywall, insulation)
• Antimicrobial cleaning and EPA-registered disinfection of affected surfaces
• Structural drying and dehumidification to prevent mold
• Deodorization and air scrubbing with HEPA filtration
• Sanitization of hard surfaces in the affected zone
• Documentation and direct billing coordination with your carrier

Common Causes

• Sewer line backups
• Septic system failures
• Storm-driven sewer surcharge
• Toilet & drain overflows

Our Process

Our Category 3 Response, Step by Step

A sewage call is treated as a biohazard response from the moment we arrive, not just a bigger water job. Technicians suit up in appropriate personal protective equipment before entering the affected area, and containment goes up to keep contaminated water and airborne particles from spreading into unaffected parts of the structure while work is underway, since a Category 3 loss that is not contained in the first few minutes becomes much harder to control later.

Extraction of the contaminated water comes first, followed by removal of porous material that absorbed it — carpet, pad, drywall, insulation — since those materials generally can't be safely cleaned once sewage has soaked in. Removed material is bagged and disposed of according to standard biohazard handling practices rather than treated as ordinary construction debris.

Every surface the contamination touched gets disinfected, and the space is dried and monitored with the same moisture-meter discipline as any water loss, since a Category 3 job that dries incompletely just trades one contamination problem for a mold problem. Documentation — what was affected, what was removed, and what was disinfected — runs alongside the physical work the whole way through.

Disinfection You Can Verify, Not Just Smell

Category 3 water carries a specific IICRC protocol, and disinfection is judged by more than a surface that looks clean. We use EPA-registered disinfectants matched to the contamination level, applied to every surface the water reached, not just the areas that look visibly affected — sewage travels further than it appears to, wicking into materials past the waterline you can see.

Air quality gets addressed alongside surfaces. HEPA air scrubbing runs throughout the containment area to manage airborne particles during removal and disinfection, and deodorization follows the same logic we apply to any odor problem: the smell is almost always a symptom of remaining contamination or moisture, so eliminating the source is what actually gets rid of it, rather than covering it with a stronger scent.

Before we close out a job, we confirm affected materials have dried to a verified level with moisture meters and that no lingering odor points to contamination we missed. If either check comes back wrong, we go back into that area and correct it rather than sign off on a space that only looks finished on the surface.

Sewage Risk in a Coastal, Storm-Driven Region

Sewage backups spike here for a reason that has nothing to do with anyone's plumbing: heavy rain and storm surge during hurricane season, June through November, can push more flow into the sewer system than lift stations and low-lying infrastructure are built to handle, forcing backups into homes and businesses that did nothing wrong. Crawl-space foundations add another layer, since supply and drain lines running underneath a home can back up or fail out of sight.

Condos and multi-unit buildings along the coast often share sewer lines and lift stations across several units, so a single blockage or storm surcharge event can affect more than one property at once — which sometimes means coordinating with an HOA or property manager in addition to the individual unit. Vacation rentals and second homes that sit empty between guests carry their own risk, since a slow backup can go unnoticed for days in a property nobody's currently using.

Because storm-driven backups and everyday plumbing failures get the same response from us either way, we don't spend time sorting out blame before starting containment and extraction — the priority is getting a biohazard situation contained and the property back to a sanitary condition as quickly as possible.

Cost & Timeline

Timeline: 2–5 days for cleanup; any rebuild is handled by your own contractor after clearance. See the full Sewage Cleanup cost guide →

Frequently Asked Questions

Sewage Cleanup Near You

We provide sewage cleanup 24/7 across the Grand Strand. See all the communities we serve →