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Thanks to Arrowhead Septic of Colorado Springs, here are a few tips to keep your system functioning as designed:

* Spread laundry loads throughout the week.
* No harsh chemicals into the system, like solvents or paint.

* Use your disposal sparingly (but remember, you'll have to pump out the tank twice as often if you have one!)

* Do not flush paper towels, cigarettes, diapers, gum, feminine products, personal wipes, grease or condoms.
* Don't discharge output from your water softener into the system. Salt kills friendly bacteria in the tank.
* Keep trees and bushes off the leach field.
* Don't drive on the leach field.
* Keep...

Dip Tube Troubles

The dip tube in a water heater directs incoming cold water to the bottom of the tank, where the water rises as it becomes warmer. Without it, your water heater will emit lukewarm water not long after turning on the faucet.

Most water heater manufacturers purchase their dip tubes from one supplier. Only recently has it been discovered that dip tubes manufactured from 1993 to 1996 were affected by a change in the manufacturing process.

The disintegrating dip tubes have clogged faucets, shower heads, and dishwashers. As the tube dissolves, water heater water turns cooler; unsuspecting homeowners typically respond by simply turning up the thermostat. Currently, many plumbers aware of the situation...

Treated Lumber

June 4, 2002

CCA treated lumber for residential markets to be phased out

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) as a treatment for lumber used in consumer products and the residential building market is being phased out by Dec. 31, 2003.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the wood treating industry announced a voluntary decision in February 2002 to phase out CCA, says Tom Milton, forest products specialist with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Milton says CCA has accounted for a huge share of pressure treated wood in the U.S., especially over the last 30 years. Over 78 percent of the 728 million cubic feet of wood treated in 1997 was treated with CCA.

"CCA is a registered pesticide," Milton says. "Considering the volume that's been...