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Show OCTOBER 25, 2000 WASATCH COUNTY COURIER Bi1 mermegenairin HOUSE CALLS The Facts About Good and Bad Water because it contains a little bit of whatever it has touched. The minerals, chemicals and bacteria water picks up from both nature and man give it its taste and color. Some _ of the things that find their way into our drinking water are beneficial to our health. Others are dangerous and can lead to serious illnesses. Last year, Americans spent more than $700 million on inhome filters and_ devices designed to rid water of impurities. The larger the water supplier, the more likely that it is in compliance with EPA standards. Even so, there may be periods when the contaminant level rises until corrective action istaken. A clean bill of health at the treatment plant might not tell house and at the tap. Some of — the commonly used systems include sediment filters which used in conjunction with a larger system to remove particles: or ozonation to kill bacteria. _ Carbon filters are designed to screen out certain contami- nants that may give the water an unpleasant odor or taste. the whole story. Water can pick But it takes solid-block filters up contaminants as it travels _ to remove heavy metals such your pipes. And, if you’re one of the 40 million people who get water from private wells, it’s your job alone to monitor and control water quality. one in an outlet? ANSWER: A GFCI outlet receptacle cer- | tainly provides additional protection against a was told that my septic system needs to use a seepage pit rather than a leaching field. Can you explain what a seepage as is and why it’s necessary? Answer: A seepage pit is used trical of a | _ leaching field in residential sewage disposal — shock hazard. To do this, the circuit in a GFCI monitors the current in the “hot” and ‘‘neu- with 3 to 6 inches of coarse gravel. The specif- of insulation, multiple splices and moisture. tral” lines. Under normal conditions, these two currents are always equal. If the circuit detects a difference between them as little as 5 mil liamps, it interrupts the power in as little as 1AOth of a second. However, childproof covers when the lot the house is located on is too - steeply sloped to allow : building a field. The pit on an outlet are effective, and it-shouldn’t be necessary to install a GFCI outlet. . allows effluent to percolate into the ground the A GFCI receptacle has one advantage over | way a leaching field does, but it takes up less surface area. Sewage leaving a house settles in - a GFCI installed in a circuit breaker. The GFCI circuit breaker monitors the branch circuit. _a septic tank before it flows into the pit. The pit’s bottom should be filled with 6 to: With it, there is a greater chance of nuisance tripping caused by a buildup of leaking cur- 12 inches of coarse gravel, and the space between the pit liner and the surrounding soil rents due to deteriorated or damaged sections as lead or mercury. Filters designed to reduce the level of fluoride may contain lh ke _ ic amount of gravel depends on local codes. | alumina. QUESTION: plugged into an My outlet TV that and VCR are my kids can reach. Although it has a childproof cover, would I gain additional protection from a ground-fault circuit-interrupter outlet? Are Reverse osmosis systems use a membrane to screen con-taminants. A percentage of - accumulation. When a GFCI breaker trips, the entire branch circuit goes out. Whereas when a GFCI receptacle trips, it de-energizes just itself, or the rest of the branch that follows it, depending. on how the ae installed. a 3 SPECIAL TO THE COURIER hen I was very young I used to fantasize that the world existed only for me. | That when I turned a corner in a crowded city, every man and woman whom I had just passed sat down for a smoke break until I happened through their sector again. Though these thoughts were always fleeting, they served to empow- er me from “small man in a big world” to “only man in a private universe’-at _ Jeast for a few minutes at a time. | was~a little startled, then, when years later the movie The Truman Show appeared. Its-very creation and warm public reception suggested that -] had never been alone in my prepu- bescent daydreams. has. | In fact, it rein- forced the nagging fear that not only was I small, but one of billions to boot. Obviously, even my most private | thoughts were shared e other, private thinkers. World dor vation comes hard to an eight-year o: _ their destruc- hope to lend it. tive and lifedenying pathway through a universe that offers thou- That’s not as dreary as it sounds. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to throw away all traces of Western drive or theology to “embrace nothing- _ of the universe are greater than its parts frees me from having to reconcile its apparent fascination with chaos with my own meager sphere of influ- ence. In not having to believe that the world revolves around me, I am free to decide just what I choose to revolve around.. - Ofcourse, such; a stance comes with corollaries: if the world doesn’t exist for my sake, than neither do its inhabitants. If I choose a life where I seek power or domination over others, then I violate nature for personal aggrandizement. in power seeks o “take as many with me as 1 can” ai can currently admit to, and far more legitimacy than what I might ever ness.” An admission that the wonders when someone far more truth than I~ ~ MATTHEW HEIMBURGER | world sands of bet- ter alternatives at every stage of their : life. True leadership can only exist ; tive soul and put ourselves on a worthy waking walkabout. No, that doesn’t mean that your life _ and my life need be the same on the out- side. You do your thing and I'll do mine; let’s even be friends if possible. But knowing that we are on the same psy_ chic journey-seeking meaning and hoping to live by whatever truths we find, is far better than believing the world the prize for life’s competition. It is ours together, and whether you believe in a revealed life plan or worry that there might be none, there is much to be derived by our ability to link our destinies in the quest for life’s true meaning. Of course, it’s hard to see any of this on a day to day basis. what we “must” Most of do we disavow as through humility and self-sacrifice. being our own idea. We give away our . agency a little bit every day. And yet... Perhaps I am rationalizing dimin-: ished expectations. Perhaps I am los- - ing the idealism of my youth. But I don’t think so. It’s not that I no longer believe that I can do anything I set my - mind to, it’s that I’m realizing that not ‘everything is worth doing. And money, power, privilege, security, revenge, habit, ignorance, fate, and apathy are only some of the many ways we have invented to deny our own complicity in our own destiny. . Far from saying that we have no and yet... every second fer tragic sciousness to accept that the floating around in humankind’s collec- of our lives- used well or poorly-is a testament to what we believe in and work toward. ‘Thus we carry the fate of the world around with us anyway charge or incognito. whether in Sorry, smoke break’s over. Matthew Heimburger is a professor of American Civilization at BYU. He lives here in the Heber Valley with his © wife and Son. mei empowerment-even for systemic or cul~ tural reasons-denies their birthright, it is especially. ooneie kind of Taoist platitude, it now seems a prerequisite of con- that the very nature of freedom and agency allows any of-us-all of us-to search through the millions of maxims ir swirled around my individual existence. Though it sounds like some Sooner or later I must crumble from — control over our course, I am saying the weight of collected trophy-egos. And, though I believe that anyone who willingly gives up his or her agency and ' _ It has taken me some time to realize the larger implications of wanting the world to have its meaning only as it rrry ‘How to Give Up the Need for World Domination f | 4 ; ' Your water can be checked © be f from the utility, and can even ' become tainted while sitting in to there disadvantages, other than cost, of hav-ing a GFCI breaker in the panel box versus | Question: I am building a new home and before they reach other filters. ultraviolet light or chlorination for all the techniques | BY POPULAR MECHANICS A Hearst Magazine FOR AP SPECIAL FEATURES remove particles and partially dissolved solids. They’re often , Distillation units use a heat- treatment _ Household 0& A where the water enters your — ing coil to turn water into vapor, leaving the impurities behind. A condensing coil returns the vapor to its liquid state. Disinfecting units use an lem. Its common 7" . There are two places to treat water in your home: one technique to take care of your own drinking water prob- r where water has been the quality of drinking water, Pages. Expect to pay from $20 - but they reduce the hard water mineral film left on clothes and for a single test to more than dishes, as well as scale deposits $100 for a full range of tests. _ are tell IAT IC eee always minerals with sodium. You might need more than Ie TNO can. Water softeners don’t improve an independent, state-certified testing lab as listed in the Yellow accompanied by oman filters. . But whether you’re hiring a professional installer or doing. the job yourself with a system — bought from a hardware store > or home center, be sure to check what each system is designed to do vefore buying. | ou your local health department or inside | pipes. Water softeners work by exchanging the ions in 4 A Hearst Magazine FOR AP SPECIAL FEATURES water is cleaned and calleded in a storage tank. The remainder flushes away impurities. r for the presence of lead, bide. ria or other contaminants by ‘BY POPULAR MECHANICS |