Fat Tom

   This is the week's blog and the topic is about food safety. To introduce that, people should know what Fat Tom stands for. Each letter represent a different word. F:food, that means bacteria need a high protein and high carbohydrate source environment to reproduce. This environment usually means food. A: acidity, bacteria can not reproduce in a high acidic foods like lemon. The first T stands for temperature, bacteria can rapidly reproduce between 41 Fahrenheit and 135 Fahrenheit. The second T stands for Time, that means if a certain food exposes to the temperature between 41F to 135F can only stay normal for four hours. After that, the food is unsafe. The O stands for oxygen, bacteria requires oxygen to reproduce so use vacuum technique to reserve food is always a good option. The m is stand for moisture, bacteria requires moisture food to grow which means keep certain food in a dry condition is also a good way to reserve food.

   There are five major food born illness in America. First, improper holding time and temperatures. That means either the food is kept in a wrong temperature or past expiration date. Second cause is poor personal hygiene. That means the person who cooked the food is not meet the requirements of food safety. The third cause is inadequate cooking, this means during the process of cooking, the food is not reach the require temperature. That means some bacteria may still present in the food. the fourth cause is contaminated equipment. People using the same equipment to prepare the ready to eat food and raw meat will cause cross contamination. The fifth cause is food from unsafe source. All the food source supplier should pass the certain inspection and requirement to be qualified to provide food.


This is a picture of Fat Tom. It shows clearly what each words stand for.




This is a picture of my refrigerator. Some food were kept there for a long time. After researched this blog, I know the importance of keep away the food that already pass the expiration date.

Steps to constructing a new sewage treatment

     Nearly 20% of American household depend on septic systems to treat their waste water, failure to maintain a septic system will lead to backups, malfunctions and early failures can result expensive repairs.

     Septic system are underground waste water treatment structures that use a combination of nature and time-tested technology to treat waste water from household plumbing produced by bathroom, kitchen and laundry. People can find out if they are using the septic system by many ways. If you are using the septic system, you can find zero charge on your "sewer amount charged" on your water bill; the waterline coming into your house doesn't have a meter or your neighborhood have a septic system. There are some advantages about maintaining your septic system. It can save your money compared with repair it; it can protect your property value and also it can keep you can your neighborhood healthy to stop contaminating nearby service water.

     There are six major steps to constructing a new sewage treatment system. First, contact your local health district for the information on STS permitting. The local health district will visit your site to begin the initial site evaluation process. Second, determine where to locate the STS. The nature soil is most commonly used for STS from a home. A complete evaluation of the soil is the soil thickness and where it is located. Other conditions include slope, topography and the location of nearby water source and drinking water supplies. These evaluation service are provided by local health district or some private companies. Third, find a suitable type of STS for your land.  Fourth, obtain quotes and bids from registered STS contractors, the contract must have fully discussed all steps of the construction process and service. Fifth, the local health district will perform a final inspection of your system to approve or disapprove the installations. And the last step, start operation and maintenance of your new STS to ensure the system works.

 
This is a picture of a failure STS in China. It is exposed to the air and it would affect nearby water and human health.


This is a good example of STS. This is the water supposed to be like.

What is Coliform and Bacteria

     Last week, we talked about air pollution and we mainly focused on human behavior caused air pollution. This week, we are talking about water pollution. Although the major contribution to water pollution are industries activities, we are going to introduce how coliform and bacteria polluted the water, and they come from the nature.

     Coliform is a kind of bacteria, you can find it in soil plants and animals feces. The coliform family is made up by many groups, one of them is fecal coliform group, which is found in intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals including human. If any fecal coliform found in drinking water or swimming pool, it would cause many diseases spread through fecal transmission. It considered safer if found fecal coliform in swimming pool than drinking water. It's a serious problem if found fecal coliform in drinking water. The most common illness of drinking or swallowing water contaminated with bacteria is diarrhea. Also, there are two other common waterborne diseases are giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis.

     In Ohio, many residents receive their drinking water from ground and surface water resources through private water system. Like wells, springs, ponds, rain water, cisterns and hauled water. The Ohio department of health requires that water provided from these systems be tested for a few basic contaminants upon completion of the private water system construction. Once that open permit receives final approval from the local health district, property owners need to take special precautions to ensure the protection and maintenance during the life time of their private water system. The requirement tests to get approve a private water system permit are total coliform bacteria, E.coli and nitrates.

     After read this post, people should be aware that if you are hiking or travel to some places which have springs or wells, the water may not capable for drink, they may contains many bacterias that make you sick.


This is a picture of a spring. Although it looks very beautiful and the water looks very clean, you should be aware of the water main contains many bacterias that make you sick.


This is a picture of toilet. If the waste water hasn't been handled carefully, contaminated the river and the drinking water system will cause a serious problem.