Picture the perfect, small, Midwestern town, on a warm summer morning in May 1973. with all the trees in full bloom, with the white puffy clouds all looking like your favorite cartoon characters.  The breeze is refreshing and this Saturday is the perfect one for an eleven year old to sell lemonade on the street corner.  This is just what the young lady of the home wanted to do on this fabulous day to make a little extra money, so she asked her mother to make her four pitchers of lemonade.

     It was also a perfect morning for a termite treatment, and the contracted termite company showed up at the residence promptly to perform their remedy magic using the most powerful insect treatment available in the industry at that time: Chlordane. Chlordane is a very powerful insecticide which actually kills a termite.  It also can kill a cat, a dog, or a child.  It hangs around for a long time in the soil (because it is considered to have a half-life, not unlike uranium) and can migrate into our underground water supply over time. Chlordane is considered so long lasting and so powerful that it has been banned for use in the US since 1988 for residential treatment of termites. The solution tank was located in the rear of the pickup truck and the powdered Chlordane, in a closely measured amount, was placed in the solution tank.  The tank was filled up with water from the customers' garden hose and then the home was treated throughout. Unfortunately, the Chlordane ended up in the four pitchers of lemonade and killed 40 people that day.

     This was back in the 1970's, when very little was known about the volumetrics of water piping.  There were no provisions in the building code to protect the house water supply from contamination from the sewer or any other source, like a hose bib.  Today we understand that water flows through a pipe in two directions, all the time.  Half the water in the shower hits you in the face and the other half goes back the other way!  Back in the 70's no one was aware of the dangers of drawing a poison, a weed killer, an insecticide, fertilizer, or other contaminant into our home's water supply through a garden hose.  In fact, according to the EPA, "a thousand and one" places in the home exist where the water supply could be contaminated.  The current building codes recognize this and your home inspector is required by the state to report on any visible "Cross Connections" found that could contaminate your potable drinking water. One such place is a hose bib, if it is missing its "Anti-siphon Device."

     If that young misses had sold her lemonade today, it is most likely that the 40 people that drank her lemonade, would not have had to worry about the dangers of a contaminant.  Today, the home inspection community is required to identify any area in a home that may have a cross connection. The anti-siphon device for the hose bib only costs about $4.50 each, and to screw it onto a hose bib may seem unnecessary and a little thing, but will protect your house water supply from contamination through a garden hose.  Please make sure all the exterior hose bibs on your home are protected with the brass "anti-siphon" devices for an improved margin of health safety.

On behalf of everyone at Inspection Specialists, I wish you and your loved ones a very special new year.

Allen Blaker