People repair and replace many things throughout their lives including shoes, clothing, automobile tires, household appliances and the like and sometimes even hips, knees, lungs, and kidneys. Generally, the longer the useful life, the greater the reliability, and the more something is out of sight, the less prepared people become when major renovation or replacement
There is a complex, buried system of more than a million miles of pipe under our feet. Through these pipes, clean drinking water flows to points of use, servicing millions of homes, businesses and institutions. Unfortunately, this hidden but essential asset has reached its sunset years in many cities and towns. In some places, such
Since mid-September, demonstrators from the international Occupy movement have inhabited US city parks to protest social and economic inequality. As the weeks pass, outdoor temperatures decline and sanitation conditions worsen, health officials are concerned that camps have become breeding grounds for disease. Protesters should heed basic principles of sanitation and take precautions to avoid spreading
It’s no secret that swimming pools, although fun and refreshing, are essentially communal bath tubs. To help keep water clean and safe, pool operators must adjust pool chemical levels. Maintaining proper pool chemistry can be a challenging task, especially in community pools where the number of swimmers fluctuates wildly from hour to hour. Add to
Chlorine bleach is an effective and inexpensive disinfectant that is widely used to destroy germs that live on surfaces in healthcare and daycare settings, schools and homes. Misinformation on bleach is common, however, so the following list was compiled to dispel five myths about this product. This article is partly based on a September, 2010
Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease, is one of Mother Nature’s greatest weapons of mass destruction. Recent reports of cholera epidemics in Haiti, Africa and Asia are strong reminders that this ancient disease stands ready to surge given half a chance. This disease wreaks havoc in poor countries and communities that lack basic public health measures.
It’s another beautiful snowy day in the Mid-Atlantic and I have just cleared my sidewalks and driveway of eight inches of heavy snow and sleet, placing it on the adjacent lawn and flower beds. Unlike rain, which tends to run off rather quickly, these ice crystals will melt slowly and soak into the soil and
Haiti’s first cholera outbreak in a century has killed at least 253 people and infected more than 3,000 with the acute diarrheal disease, overwhelming some clinics and causing the country’s worst public health crisis since January’s earthquake. The Haitian Ministry of Health said tests had confirmed the disease outbreak is cholera, while United Nations officials say the Artibonite
World Water Week just ended and, this year, Mother Nature is proving to be one of the most powerful obstacles to clean water. This year, two natural disasters have resulted in two human tragedies a half a world apart. The origin of one disaster was in the ground; the other in the sky. But the distressing
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified Miami-Dade health officials that three tourists, all of whom stayed at the luxury EPIC Hotel, had contracted Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia. Investigators initially attributed the outbreak to low levels of chlorine in the hotel’s drinking water, which presumably allowed Legionella to contaminate the water supply; however, the chlorine levels