The only thing more unsightly than a yard with no grass is a yard that is covered in patches of standing water. Having standing water in your yard or around the foundation of your home can be a pretty aggravating thing, but there is something that you can do to remedy this situation and will probably not cost you an arm and a leg.
Most of the time, problems with standing water in the yard can be attributed to the yard having uneven elevation all over it. Some parts may be lower than others and will retain water after a heavy or even sometimes a light rain. The simple solution to this is to fill in these lower areas with soil and plant grass over them to hold the new soil in place. Planting grass over it is not only necessary to look good, but also serves the practical purpose of making sure the soil does not just wash away over time.
The other option is to have a drainage system installed in the yard. Call your local building commission first and make sure that you have permission to take on such a project, even if you do own your house and the land it is on. Obtaining a building permit may not be easy and it might take you a few weeks to get one, but it just depends on where you are living at the time.
Dig a ditch in your yard starting at the point you want to drain water from and end the ditch where you want the excess water to be deposited. Slant this ditch downhill about 6 inches for every 100 feet so that water does not simply collect in the pipe and stand there. Lay a small amount of gravel throughout the length of this ditch and put a PVC pipe over it. Cover this with more gravel and cover it again with soil. The gravel will help direct ground water toward the drain’s end. Put some wire mesh or a sink strainer over the highest end of the pipe to keep debris from getting into it. You do not need a strainer at the other end.
If you have somewhat of a sense of humor and like the idea of a small pond in your yard, consider putting a goldfish pond in one of the spots where water likes to collect. Digging it out and keeping it aerated for some fish might add a pleasing effect as long as it is located in the right place.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
North Carolina Mold Remediation and other states such as
New Jersey Sewage Damage Cleanup companies across the united states.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Sanitizing Your Well Water
If you live outside the city limits, you may be among the thousands of people that have to rely on well water to drink and to bathe in. There are filters that can be put on your well to get rid of any mineral deposits, rust, or soil that may get into your water, but actually disinfecting your water if it is contaminated with bacteria is a somewhat different matter. You can clean your well water out by chlorinating it and this process is fairly simple.
Chlorinating well water is usually done to get rid of bacteria, to disinfect after you make some kind of repair to it, to disinfect after it has not been used in a while, such as the well of a vacation home, or the removal of hydrogen sulphide.
The first thing that you need to do is to get enough water saved up in your house by using milk jugs or whatever else you have to put water in to last your home’s needs for at least the next 24 hours.
Depending on how deep your well is, you will want to put a different amount of bleach into the water. The bleach that you will want to use is a simple, unscented household bleach. This should contain about 3 to 5 percent sodium chlorite. As far as just how much bleach you need to use, it varies. If your well is less than 50 feet deep and is 6 inches in diameter, you will want to use 3.5 liters of bleach in it. A well that is 100 feet deep and 6 inches in diameter will require 7.
You should not use the water system of your home for at least 8 hours after doing this. 24 hours is usually the recommended time, but this might not be practical for you if you have a large family.
By the time the process is over, your water should not smell like chlorine. The water may look similar to a tea color, but this will go away after a bit of use. Do not drink the water until the chlorine smell is gone.
If the process helps your water’s quality, but the problem comes back in a few weeks, you will need to repeat this process and possibly add more bleach per application. This should result in a water supply quality that is much better than it was before.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Connecticut water damage restoration and other states such as
New Jersey Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
Chlorinating well water is usually done to get rid of bacteria, to disinfect after you make some kind of repair to it, to disinfect after it has not been used in a while, such as the well of a vacation home, or the removal of hydrogen sulphide.
The first thing that you need to do is to get enough water saved up in your house by using milk jugs or whatever else you have to put water in to last your home’s needs for at least the next 24 hours.
Depending on how deep your well is, you will want to put a different amount of bleach into the water. The bleach that you will want to use is a simple, unscented household bleach. This should contain about 3 to 5 percent sodium chlorite. As far as just how much bleach you need to use, it varies. If your well is less than 50 feet deep and is 6 inches in diameter, you will want to use 3.5 liters of bleach in it. A well that is 100 feet deep and 6 inches in diameter will require 7.
You should not use the water system of your home for at least 8 hours after doing this. 24 hours is usually the recommended time, but this might not be practical for you if you have a large family.
By the time the process is over, your water should not smell like chlorine. The water may look similar to a tea color, but this will go away after a bit of use. Do not drink the water until the chlorine smell is gone.
If the process helps your water’s quality, but the problem comes back in a few weeks, you will need to repeat this process and possibly add more bleach per application. This should result in a water supply quality that is much better than it was before.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Connecticut water damage restoration and other states such as
New Jersey Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
Mold and Your Children
The health of children is probably the most important issue for the majority of parents across the nation and as time goes on, we are seeing more and more potential threats to it. Whether it is asthma, the flu, bronchitis, or any other type of illness, all parents are concerned with the long term effects of these conditions and what causes or aggravates them.
Mold has somewhat taken center stage in the list of things in your home that can cause adverse health effects for not only children and the elderly, but anyone else living in your home at the time, as well. Not only can mold cause the aggravation of allergies and respiratory conditions such as asthma and emphysema, but it can also be toxic and cause long term medical conditions that can even end in death in some severe cases.
Due to their underdeveloped nature compared to adults, children are much more at risk to face the health effects of mold exposure than their adult counterparts. If your child has allergies, you probably keep an eye on their exposure to them on a daily basis, as well you should, but have you had your home tested for mold? If you have not, then you probably should.
Your child’s immune system is in development in the early years of its life and you should do what you can to make sure that the natural maturing process is not disturbed. Educate yourself about the different symptoms that can be caused from mold exposure, since many doctors are not particularly aware of the complex symptoms that can come about from the exposure. If you believe that your home has mold and your child is sick, relate this to your child’s pediatrician.
Infants are the most at risk, obviously, and if you suspect there is mold in your home anywhere, you should remove the child from the environment immediately and have tests done to determine if the mold is cosmetic or not. Hemorrhagic pneumonia can be caused by mold exposure in an infant and deaths have been reported.
If your home has been flooded and your child’s toys were exposed to flood waters, anything porous needs to be thrown away. This includes stuffed animals, pillows, and other bedding. These are no longer safe for your child to play with. Even mattresses need to be thrown out and replaced, because of the recent link between mold, crib mattresses, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Houston Fire Damage Water Restoration Contractor companies and
Los Angeles Water Damage and Restoration Services.
Mold has somewhat taken center stage in the list of things in your home that can cause adverse health effects for not only children and the elderly, but anyone else living in your home at the time, as well. Not only can mold cause the aggravation of allergies and respiratory conditions such as asthma and emphysema, but it can also be toxic and cause long term medical conditions that can even end in death in some severe cases.
Due to their underdeveloped nature compared to adults, children are much more at risk to face the health effects of mold exposure than their adult counterparts. If your child has allergies, you probably keep an eye on their exposure to them on a daily basis, as well you should, but have you had your home tested for mold? If you have not, then you probably should.
Your child’s immune system is in development in the early years of its life and you should do what you can to make sure that the natural maturing process is not disturbed. Educate yourself about the different symptoms that can be caused from mold exposure, since many doctors are not particularly aware of the complex symptoms that can come about from the exposure. If you believe that your home has mold and your child is sick, relate this to your child’s pediatrician.
Infants are the most at risk, obviously, and if you suspect there is mold in your home anywhere, you should remove the child from the environment immediately and have tests done to determine if the mold is cosmetic or not. Hemorrhagic pneumonia can be caused by mold exposure in an infant and deaths have been reported.
If your home has been flooded and your child’s toys were exposed to flood waters, anything porous needs to be thrown away. This includes stuffed animals, pillows, and other bedding. These are no longer safe for your child to play with. Even mattresses need to be thrown out and replaced, because of the recent link between mold, crib mattresses, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Houston Fire Damage Water Restoration Contractor companies and
Los Angeles Water Damage and Restoration Services.
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