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This publication is designed to help homeowners and renters in rural and suburban areas assess their homes and properties for pollution and health risks. The eleven chapters cover essential topics that every resident should understand: site assessment, stormwater management, drinking water well management, household wastewater, hazardous household products management, lead sources and management, yard and garden care, liquid fuels management, indoor air quality, heating and cooling systems, and household waste management. A comprehensive introductory checklist directs readers to the chapters that will benefit them the most. Each chapter provides key information, along with tables of assessment questions, to help readers evaluate their own situations and management practices. How to take action toward improving home and property management and preventing health and environmental hazards is discussed in each chapter as well. Fifty-six illustrations supplement the text. (1997)

Are you concerned about the environment? Do you wonder whether your day-to-day activities around the home harm the environment? Are you interested in learning ways to improve how you manage your home?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you might be interested in Home*A*Syst: An Environmental Risk-Assessment Guide for the Home. This 122-page publication is designed to help residents of rural and suburban areas evaluate their homes for safety and environmental risks.

A blue ribbon winner in the ASAE Educational Aids Competition sponsored by the Society for Engineering in Agricultural, Food, and Biological Systems, Home*A*Syst covers eleven topics that every homeowner or resident should understand: evaluating a property for environmental risks, stormwater management, drinking water well management, household wastewater, hazardous household products, lead, yard and garden care, liquid fuels, indoor air quality, heating and cooling systems, and household waste management. The chapters are structured in an easy-to-use, workbook-like format, and many illustrations highlight the text.

Each chapter begins with background information about a specific topic. For example, the chapter on lead begins with a discussion of the hazards associated with lead and potential sources of lead inside a home. Then a series of assessment questions helps readers use the information to determine whether they are at risk and, if they are, whether their risk level is high, medium, or low. For example, to determine risks related to indoor lead, readers answer questions about the age of their home, the paint and plumbing used in their home, and the quality of their water. The text then follows through with tips for taking action to reduce or eliminate any risks.

Home*A*Syst also helps readers see "the big picture" - that is, how their management practices around the home can affect the entire community. For example, the book explains how sweeping grass clippings into a storm sewer affects aquatic life in the stream down the street, how dumping motor oil on the ground can devastate a community's drinking water supply, and how "shopping with the environment in mind" can help preserve natural resources and minimize waste.

The book also illustrates ways that activities in the community can affect the individual. For example, a nearby gas station introduces potential risk. Careless neighbors, abandoned wells, or underground fuel tanks can present risks as well. Home*A*Syst encourages residents to think of themselves as part of a community.

No home is exempt from potential pollution problems and health risks - no matter how well it is managed. By examining our daily routines and management practices in and around the home, we can all learn to better protect our health, the quality of the environment, and our financial investments. Home*A*Syst is a good place to start.

Home*A*Syst: An Environmental Risk-Assessment Guide for the Home was written by fifteen authors from ten different university extension programs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the National Farm*A*Syst / Home*A*Syst Program. The book was developed by the National Farm*A*Syst / Home*A*Syst Program in cooperation with the Natural Resouce, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES). Farm*A*Syst and Home*A*Syst are sponsored by the USDA Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES), the NRCS, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Home*A*Syst, NRAES-87, is available for $9.00 per copy (plus shipping and handling) from NRAES, Cooperative Extension, PO Box 4557, Ithaca, New York 14852-4557. Quantity discounts are available. The shipping and handling charge is $4.25 for a single copy within the continental United States. New York residents, add sales tax (calculated on both the cost of publications and the shipping and handling charges. Click here for more information). If ordering more than one copy or if ordering from outside the United States, please contact NRAES for shipping rates. Orders from outside the United States must be prepaid in U.S. funds. 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 at (607) 254-8770, by e-mail at nraes@cornell.edu, or on the Web at http://www.nraes.org.

Introduction

Checklist for Pollution Risks In and Around the Home

CHAPTER 1
Site Assessment: Protecting Water Quality Around Your Home

Part 1 - Physical Characteristics of Your Homesite
Part 2 - Making a Map of Your Homesite
Putting It All Together and Taking Action

CHAPTER 2
Stormwater Management

Part 1 - Reducing Pollutants in Runoff
Part 2 - Landscaping and Site Management to Control Runoff
Action Checklist
For More Information

CHAPTER 3
Drinking Water Well Management

Part 1 - Well Location
Part 2 - Well Construction and Maintenance
Part 3 - Water Testing and Unused Wells
Action Checklist
For More Information

CHAPTER 4
Household Wastewater: Septic Systems and Other Treatment Methods

Part 1 - Septic System Design and Location
Part 2 - On-Site System Maintenance
Part 3 - Septic or Sewage System Inputs
Action Checklist
For More Information

CHAPTER 5
Managing Hazardous Household Products

Part 1 - Product Selection, Purchase, and Use
Part 2 - Safe Storage
Part 3 - Product Disposal
Action Checklist
For More Information
Hazardous Product Examples and Inventory



CHAPTER 6
Lead In and Around the Home: Identifying and Managing Its Sources

Part 1 - Identifying Lead Sources Inside the Home
Part 2 - Identifying Lead Sources Outside the Home
Part 3 - Health Effects of Lead on Children
Action Checklist
For More Information

CHAPTER 7
Yard and Garden Care

Managing Your Lawns, Gardens, and Landscaping
Action Checklist
For More Information

CHAPTER 8
Liquid Fuels: Safe Management of Gasoline, Heating Oil, Diesel, and Other Fuels

Part 1 - Portable Fuel Containers
Part 2 - Aboveground, Underground, and Basement Storage Tanks
Action Checklist
For More Information

CHAPTER 9
Indoor Air Quality: Reducing Health Risks and Improving the Air You Breathe

Part 1 - Identifying and Controlling Potential Sources of Air Quality Problems
Part 2 - Ventilating Indoor Air
Action Checklist
For More Information

CHAPTER 10
Heating and Cooling Systems: Saving Energy and Keeping Safe

Part 1 - Combustion Heating Appliance Ventilation Safety
Part 2 - Energy Consumption
Part 3 - Energy Efficiency
Action Checklist
For More Information

CHAPTER 11
Managing Household Waste: Preventing, Reusing, Recycling, and Composting

Part 1 - Preventing and Minimizing Waste
Part 2 - Reusing, Recycling, and Composting
Part 3 - Waste Disposal on Your Property
Action Checklist
For More Information