March-April 2001

The topics in this newsletter are considered to be timely and of interest. Comments and suggestions are invited. The use of trade names in this newsletter is not an endorsement of any company or product by the Maryland Cooperative Extension, University of Maryland, College Park.
David S. Ross, Extension Agricultural Engineer

Mold and Indoor Air Quality

Your home may be dangerous to your health.  Your bedroom may be the second most dangerous room in your house, after bathroom accidents.  You spend about eight hours a day in the bedroom . . .  inhaling air and everything in it.  Indoor air quality may be the cause of everything from headaches to respiratory problems.

Mold may be a cause of health problems.  Furnace filters can reduce some biological problems such as pollen, house dust, animal dander, and some molds.  Frequent vacuuming of carpets helps to control dust mites and some molds.  It is an essential air quality control procedure but it cannot cure the problem by itself.

Water leaks are a prime source of mold.  The worst leaks are small leaks into the heating/cooling ductwork, where the moisture helps mold to grow for distribution through the whole house.  Key things to look for in each room are: leaks and standing water; high humidity; a room with an unvented furnace, kerosene heater, wood stove, or other combustion source; moisture on bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room walls; unvented moist crawl space or basement; and earth floors.

Mold has the potential to cause problems.  The problems above are not uncommon in our homes.  What can be done?

First, find and fix any leaks.  Turn off everything in your house that uses water: outdoor faucets, toilets, refrigerator icemaker, and so on.  Then go to your house water meter and both listen to sounds in the water pipe and watch the dial on the water meter.  If you hear water running or can see a change in the water meter dial after a period of time, you have a leak in the plumbing.  The problem may be a leaky valve or a leak releasing water into the house.  Turn one water device on at a time and listen for leaks.

Second, look for moist or humid places in the house.  Ventilate and look for a source of humidity.  Dehumidifiers can help in a humid room.  Seek help to correct any moisture problems.

Common sources of moisture problems in a house are: crawl spaces with bare earth, basements with moist walls or floor, improper drainage around the foundation of the house, and clogged rain gutters that overflow water next to the house or onto the house siding.  Leaky roofs or leaky flashing next to unvented bathrooms (showers) and cooking areas may be sources of moisture loads.

Solutions may include a gutter or roof repair, earth fill next to the house foundation for drainage improvement, repair or installation of an exhaust fan vent in the bathroom or kitchen, or covering an earthen crawl space with a sheet of film plastic.  More severe situations may require a basement sump pump, basement wall waterproofing, or a tile drain around the outside of the house to remove ground water from next to the foundation.  Problems may not be easy to find but moisture problems should be corrected—for your health.

Gary Felton, Extension Specialist

Drainage Around Your House

Did you have water problems during the last wet weather?  Does water pool next to the foundation of your home?  Do you have moisture on your basement walls or floor?  Settlement of the soil near the house foundation may be the problem.  The backfill near the foundation settles over time.  During dry weather is the time to correct the problem.

A low area may develop next to the house and water from downspouts or surface runoff accumulates there.  Sometimes this water finds a crack in the foundation wall and makes its way inside.

The solution to this problem is as simple as a little shovel work.  The goal is to reshape the ground near the house so that water can drain away from the house.  One option is to make a depression in the ground in a triangular shape about three inches deep in the center and tapering off to the existing ground level nearby.

The width should be three to six feet so the depression will be little noticed.  Use the soil that was removed to fill in the low area next to the house.  The figure illustrates how to make a drainage area parallel to the house foundation, but continue past the end of the house.  A similar drainway can be made leading directly away from the house.  After compacting the fill soil, the drainway should slope at least one or two inches drop in 10 feet of distance and be long enough to reach a point where the water will drain onto the existing ground.  Another option is to use a pipe to carry water from a downspout away from the house to a point from which it will drain away from the foundation.

Gary Felton, Extension Specialist

NRAES PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE

The following Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service publications are being highlighted this month for growers and marketers.

Orders should be sent to NRAES, Cooperative Extension, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-5701.  Quantity discounts are available.  Major credit cards are accepted, and checks should be made payable to NRAES.  For information about quantity discounts, or for a free publications catalog, contact NRAES by phone at (607) 255-7654, by fax (607) 254-8770, or by E-mail at nraes@cornell.edu.  NRAES also maintains a web site at http://www.nraes.org.

Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment, 7th Edition

Buildings and equipment on a dairy farm must facilitate the job of caring for the animals. In addition to creating an environment that meets the needs of the animals, dairy facility design must address labor requirements, animal and material flow, pollution control, expansion possibilities, and management requirements. Dairy producers and others planning to build or remodel dairy facilities will find a comprehensive resource in Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment, MWPS‑7, ($22.00 plus $5.50 shipping and handling; 160 pages; 2000). The new seventh edition of this popular publication from the MidWest Plan Service (MWPS) may now be ordered from NRAES, the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service.

Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment covers a full range of aspects of freestall dairy facilities, including facility and equipment planning.  Discussions focus on total herd management by production groups, management by age groups, and replacement animal housing. Chapter topics include replacement animal housing areas; milking herd facilities; milking centers; special handling and treatment facilities; building environment; manure and wastewater management; feeding facilities; and utilities. The book contains more than 110 illustrations that provide design detail for elements such as forward and side lunge freestalls, post and rail feeding fences, brisket boards, milking center layouts, manure management systems, a herringbone palpation facility, and heating and ventilation systems. Also included are more than 65 tables.

New, expanded, or revised topics for the seventh edition include discussions of farmstead layouts, large dairy operations, three- and six-row barns, and dry cow facilities. Other new or expanded topics include water recommendations, milkline sizing, palpation rail construction, evaporative cooling, and circulation fans. This edition also has expanded discussions of manure production values and the handling of sand-laden manure.

Manure Characteristics Publication

In response to public concerns about the handling of manure, many states are starting to require producers to prepare a nutrient management plan for their operations.  Producers, educators, extension specialists, and others will have an increased need to locate the best available information about the volume, handling characteristics, and nutrient content of manure produced by a livestock operation. To help meet those needs, a new publication from the MidWest Plan Service (MWPS) is now available from NRAES, the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service.  Manure Characteristics, MWPS-18, Section 1 ($8.00 plus $3.75 shipping and handling; 24 pages; 2000) provides up-to-date information about solid, semisolid, slurry, and liquid manure handling characteristics as well as nutrient content and sampling and testing manure.

The first publication in the Manure Management Systems Series, which is planned to eventually replace Livestock Waste Facilities Handbook, MWPS-18 (available for $8.00 plus  $3.75 shipping and handling; 112 pages; 1993), Manure Characteristics is based on the "Animal Waste Characteristics" chapter from MWPS-18. The expanded and revised discussion emphasizes the importance of proper manure testing and sampling, including how to collect and ship samples as well as how to read and interpret the results. Other new topics include instructions for making a manure sampler and for estimating manure nutrient content based on animal diets. Containing 17 tables, five figures, seven equations, and two examples with detailed solutions, the publication provides new manure composition tables for liquid pits, lagoons, and milking centers. On the basis of current research, the publication provides updated and expanded tables for volume and nutrient values and updated and expanded as-excreted information for a larger list of species.

Waterborne Pathogens in Agricultural Watersheds

A newly available publication, Waterborne Pathogens in Agricultural Watersheds (NRAES-147, $9.00, plus $3.75 shipping and handling; 68 pages, March 2001), introduces readers to disease-causing organisms in agricultural watersheds that may contaminate water. The publication describes agricultural and other sources of these pathogens, monitoring methods, and agricultural practices to reduce the risk of water contamination.

Waterborne Pathogens in Agricultural Watersheds, a somewhat technical publication, provides thorough descriptions of key organisms of concern, including the protozoa Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia species, the bacteria Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Campylobacter, viruses, and helminths such as flatworms and roundworms. Indicator bacteria that are normally monitored for water quality are also described, along with harmful algal blooms (even though they do not fall neatly into the category of pathogen).

A section on pathogens in the environment discusses sources of waterborne pathogens, such as domestic livestock, land application of sewage and sludge, pets and companion animals, and wildlife like mammals and birds. Survival rates of pathogens in different environments, such as agricultural waste management systems, land application areas, and water, are also discussed.

Waterborne Pathogens in Agricultural Watersheds describes a multiple-barrier approach to preventing pathogen movement off the farm--including preventing pathogen imports to a farm, breaking the amplification cycle on the farm, properly handling the agricultural waste stream, and controlling transport from the farm. The book also provides an overview of specific methods for detecting and monitoring pathogens. It concludes with a summary and a description of anticipated developments from ongoing pathogen research.

Thirteen figures and nine tables supplement the text in this 68-page book. A glossary and extensive references are also included. The book will be of special interest to Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff, soil and water conservation district personnel, nutrient management consultants, environmental regulators, farmer advisors, and cooperative extension specialists.