We’re pleased to announce a new service that will help BWL customers make the most efficient use of our products – electricity and drinking water.

Our new program is called EnergyWise, and it’s the result of a partnership between the BWL and several groups offering energy services in our electric and water service territories.

EnergyWise:

• Helps our customers identify ways to use water and energy efficiently, so you get the best bang for your utility buck.

• Acts as a referral agency that will help connect our customers with local agencies that provide energy programs and services.

• Pursues partnerships that benefit our customers. These include an affiliation with ENERGY STARŪ, a nationally known organization that provides standards on energy efficiency. ENERGY STAR can help you find the most energy efficient appliance that will save you money through lower operating costs.

Click here to find out more about EnergyWise or call EnergyWise program administrator Sue Warren at 702-6585 for a free brochure.

  

If every U.S. household replaced their five most frequently used light bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified models they could save up to $60 a year in energy costs. Not only that, but collectively, we’d all prevent air pollution equivalent to the emissions from 8 million cars.

ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) last six times longer than incandescent bulbs. Screw-in CFLs last at least 6,000 hours, or about four years. They also use two-thirds less energy than a comparable incandescent light, saving at least $25 in energy costs over their lifetime. They can also be used in most incandescent fixtures you already have at home.

Changing the world starts with simple actions. When you replace a light in your home with one that has earned the ENERGY STAR, you contribute to a cleaner environment, while saving energy, money, and time buying and changing lights for your home.
 

Eligible Lansing residents can stay warmer and save money this winter by signing up for the City of Lansing’s Energy Fitness Program.

This free program offers energy-saving improvements and advice to income-eligible residents of the City of Lansing. Urban Options, a local nonprofit organization, will send an Energy Specialist to your home and provide you with up to eight money-saving improvements, a helpful information packet and safety tips.

There are a limited number of openings. Remember, this program fills up fast, so call Urban Options today to sign up. Their phone number is 337-0422.

 


 mothers are at highest risk from exposure to lead.

BWL water has no detectable lead when it leaves our conditioning plants. If lead does show up in tap water, these are the known ways it can get there:

•  From the service line connecting your house to our water main if the service line is made of lead.

•  From plumbing inside your house if you have lead pipes, or copper plumbing joined with lead solder (homes built before 1988 may have been plumbed using lead solder).

•  From plumbing inside your house if you have brass fixtures.

If  water sits inside these kinds of pipes or fixtures for more than six hours, small amounts of lead may dissolve into the water.

You should do two important things to minimize your exposure to lead in drinking water:

•  Use only the cold water faucet for drinking, cooking, making coffee or baby formula. That’s because hot water dissolves lead more quickly than cold water.

•  Before using water for drinking or cooking, run the water until it’s as cold as it will get, usually for 30 seconds or more. This will flush out the old water that has been sitting in your pipes and provide you with fresh water from the water mains.

Our Board of Commissioners has committed to removing all the lead service lines remaining in the BWL’s water system by 2014. We’ve established a priority list to provide orderly and efficient replacements of these lines. Top replacement priority goes to homes with pregnant women or with children under six years old. If you have a lead service line and fit in this group, please call us at 702-6006.

For more information about lead in drinking water, call the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791. Or, for more information about the health risks from lead, contact the Ingham County Health Department at 887-4308.


increases with age. Early detection is the best protection.

Current recommendations for all women age 20 to 39 include monthly breast self-examinations and a clinical breast exam by a health care provider every one to three years. Women age 40 and older should perform monthly self-exams, see their healthcare provider every year for a clinical breast exam and have an annual mammogram. When detected early, the survival rate for breast cancer is high.

Encourage the women in your life to get breast cancer screening. For information about free breast screening and mammograms for qualified women over the age of 40, call the Ingham County Health Department at 887-4364.