Today's Feature

Winter Heating Assistance.

News Release

Starting Wednesday, February 2, 2005, Economic Security Corporation (ESC) will offer additional primary only heating assistance to low income households in Barton, Jasper, Newton and McDonald Counties. Households may apply for assistance on primary heating sources for a maximum of $600.00. The Community Action Agency will be taking applications on a first come, first served basis. In addition, all households must meet eligibility criteria. This program is funded by the Missouri department of Social Services, Energy Crisis Intervention Program.

ESC in Carthage is located at 600 E. 6th Street, open on Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information call 358-3521.

Public Services Meets Tonight.

The Public Services Committee will meet this evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Parks Department Building at Municipal Park. Items on the agenda include the discussion of the agreements with the youth softball, little league, Carthage Driller Baseball, adult softball and adult soccer league. Also discussed will be the proposed improvements to the girls’ softball field. The bids for golf carts will also be reviewed and cart lease purchase bids will be discussed.

‘Course I could walk down the street to the train station and put down forty-five cents and they’d stop a passenger train. I doubt if that was too profitable either, but I did it a few times to visit my cousin some thirty miles away. Folks couldn’t drive it for that change even with nineteen cent gas.

I guess people have gotten used to payin’ for the convenience of the automobile, but I always liked knowin’ there was a way to get outa town if things got rough.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

The Case of the Vanishing Toilet Water

Q: I have two toilets in my home. One toilet is used more frequently than the other. Unfortunately, the other toilet does not preserve water in the bowl during the winter months. The tank remains full but the water in the toilet bowl vanishes over 8 hours. This causes sewer fumes to fill my house. The mystery: Why does this only happen during cold weather? I do not experience this during warm weather. There are no obvious leaks around the tank or under the floor. I flush the toilet twice a day in an effort to maintain the water level in the bowl. The mystery remains unsolved! — Sheila L.

A: Aha, but it’s no mystery at all! The problem — thanks to your detailed description — is a partially blocked vent in your home’s drain/waste/vent system.

A home’s DWV system is one of those amazing mechanisms that folks never really notice — until something goes wrong. The array creates a careful balance between gravity and air pressure to ensure that waste goes straight to the sewer or septic system, and that sewer gas is dispersed outdoors. The pressurized environment of a DWV system is pretty stable — a clogged sink or toilet won’t upset the entire process.

However, a blockage within a large vent or drain stack can cause trouble. When airflow is blocked, a vacuum is created, and both air and waste material get pulled in the wrong directions. In your case, the water in your toilet bowl is being sucked out of the drain trap, and sewer gases are rising to take the water’s place.

This is a problem I hear about often in winter. The blockage is often caused by frost forming inside an undersized vent stack. Warm, humid air created by hot water draining from the shower, the dishwasher, the washing machine, etc. rises into the stack. The moisture condenses as it cools, runs down the inside of the pipe, and, in freezing weather, ices up.

The solution is to have the vent stack (or stacks) checked and cleared by a professional plumber. He’ll look for frost or ice dams inside the pipe and will use a plumber’s snake to clear debris from deep inside the vent.

Until the plumber arrives, continue to flush that spare toilet at least twice a day (and more if you remember to). This will hopefully maintain some equilibrium within the DWV system and keep the sewer gas out of your living areas.