Here are eight home improvements you can finish by Labor Day that will pay you back. Each costs less than $1,000 and should require less than a day’s work. Take a look.

1. Replace Sinks & Faucets

2. Backsplashes

3. Vanity Cabinets/Toilets

4. Paint

5. Crown Molding

6. Storage/Organization

7. Replace The Front Door

8. Landscaping

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As reported by John Miley

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Or how about a bottle of water I got somewhere in the United States (the location is a secret), but failed to treat according to any standards you know of?

It’s only a $1.25 a bottle.

Not buying it? The thing is, we’re all buying it.

In 2009, Americans drank an average of 27.6 gallons of bottled water per person. That’s 11.4 gallons more per person than we drank 10 years ago, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation. Sales of bottled water in 2009 were $10.6 billion.

If you’re buying bottled water, what you are often getting is nothing more than plain tap water. In many cases, you’re getting water from an unknown source that is not subject to the strict Environmental Protection Agency standards established in the Safe Drinking Act.

In other words: your city tap water is guaranteed to be safer than bottled water.

According to two reports that resulted in a Congressional hearing in 2009, bottled water is actually not as safe as city tap water. In fact, the 2008 Environmental Working Group study of 10 bottled water brands found they contained 38 chemical pollutants, including bacteria and known carcinogens that exceeded safety standards in the states where they were for sale.

By Jeff Barnet/Healthy U

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These are just a few of consumers’ biggest complaints, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and the Consumer Federation of America. To come up with their data, the two groups polled state and local consumer protection agencies.

Here’s the list of the top 10 areas that generated the most consumer complaints last year.

No. 1: Autos. Car-related complaints were also the No. 1 spot in 2008. Among the frustrations: misrepresenting vehicles for sale; lemons; faulty repairs; leasing and towing disputes.

No. 2: Credit/Debt. Billing and fee disputes; mortgage-related fraud; credit repair; debt-relief services; predatory lending; illegal or abusive debt collection tactics.

No. 3: Home improvement/Construction. Shoddy work; failure to start or complete the job.

No. 4: Utilities. Service problems or billing disputes with phone, cable, satellite, Internet, electric and gas services.

No. 5: Retail sales. False advertising and other deceptive practices; defective merchandise; problems with rebates, coupons, gift cards and gift certificates; failure to deliver.

No. 6: Services. Misrepresentations; shoddy work; failure to have required licenses; failure to perform.

No. 7: Internet sales. Misrepresentations or other deceptive practice; failure to deliver online purchases.

No. 8: Household goods. Misrepresentations; failure to deliver; faulty repairs in connection with furniture or appliances.

No. 9 (tie): Landlord/Tenant. Unhealthy or unsafe conditions; failure to make repairs or provide promised amenities; deposit and rent disputes; illegal eviction tactics.

No. 9 (tie): Home solicitations. Misrepresentations or failure to deliver in door-to-door, telemarketing or mail solicitations; do-not-call violations.

No. 10: Health products/services. Misleading claims; unlicensed practitioners; failure to deliver.

Homeowners with dated bathrooms like these should run, not walk, to their nearest computer to enter the American Standard Ugliest Bathroom Contest. The bathroom voted to be the ugliest will win a $10,000 installed suite of furniture, fixtures and faucets.

Homeowners can enter the contest by visiting Facebook until August 20, 2010.

Piasa Commercial Interiors claims it was forced to hire three different plumbing companies between September 2005 through June 2009 to investigate the cause of its periodic sewer stoppage problems.

According to the complaint filed July 12 in Madison County Circuit Court, R & M Sewer Service finally excavated the area around the sewer line in June 2009 to discover the cause of the backups.

“After the initial excavation revealed the sewer line, Plaintiff was able to see, for the first time, that an underground telephone/communications line had been drilled into, and placed through, Plaintiff’s sewer line,” the suit states. “Once the sewer line was excavated, Plaintiff could see that the underground telephone/communications line had pierced, and was penetrating the sewer line. The sewer line was broken during the excavation process, causing sewage to leak into the surrounding area.”

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by Kelly Holleran

Save $150 on Sewer Line Replacement

A Boiling Springs neighborhood caught a case of puppy love Tuesday that soon spread to two fire departments and a nearby plumbing company.

Animal-loving volunteers gave up a full work day to rescue a baby German shepherd mix from a storm drain in the Ferndale subdivision off Parris Bridge Road. Another puppy was too deep inside the drain to be reached, but rescuers are hopeful a small trap placed inside the drain will save a second furry life.

Ann Hecht, who lives on a neighboring street, was the first to alert authorities to the trapped animals. She saw one of the dogs walking on the side of the road during her morning walk about 8:30. But when she got closer, she saw the dog had fallen into the drain. The owner of a 13-year-old miniature dachshund, Hecht said she simply couldn’t walk away without trying to help.

Hecht, a receptionist at Boiling Springs Elementary School, called the Boiling Springs Fire Department and Spartanburg County Animal Control. Soon, both agencies were on the scene, along with Cherokee Springs Fire Department and local plumbing company Operation Drains.

Plumbing technicians used a pipe camera to locate the dogs before going into the drain to pull one out.

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By Lee G. Healy

An Appleton man is stuck with a $15,000 bill after learning his homeowners insurance won’t cover major flood damage to his basement.

“I would have been happy to have just a little bit of water in here,” Matt Mangin remarks.

It’s not often that someone would prefer to have rain in the basement, but for the 25-year-old homeowner it would have been a much cheaper option.

“Right as I was leaving the room, the wall just fell in and knocked over the hot water heater, and that sprayed water everywhere.”

After torrential rain last week, his basement wall collapsed — raining brick, earth, and water into his home.

“At that point I just went into like a state of shock and thought we have to get everybody out of here.”

Mangin says he immediately called his insurance agent, but the next day he learned his homeowners insurance policy doesn’t cover any of the damage, leaving him with yet another dreaded surprise and a $15,000 bill.

Mangin admits he didn’t know exactly what’s in his policy. “I would assume most people don’t,” he said. “People always think, oh, you have insurance and you figure you are covered.”

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By Chris Hrapsky

Save $35 off any Sump Pump Installation

Located near the Ohio River, people in southwestern Ohio don’t spend much mental energy on dwindling fresh water supplies. We may suffer a few weeks of high temperatures and a touch of drought from time to time here in southern Ohio, but with millions of gallons of water sitting right in our backyard, southwestern Ohio folks don’t get overly concerned. Perhaps we should.

Climate Change Plays A Big Role In Water Supply

Political analysts warn that the next great wars won’t be fought over ethnic or political boundaries but over water rights. The world’s population continues to grow. Global warming is melting the glaciers that hold the bulk of the world’s fresh water. Annual glacial melt fills the streams and rivers that supply drinking water to the majority of Earth’s peoples. When the glaciers dry up, so will their water supply. Climatologists say global warming is changing weather patterns, causing increasingly severe weather including long-term drought. A glimmer of what the future holds has been playing out in California and the U.S. Southwest for the past few years. Before this spring’s torrential rains, five years of unrelenting drought had forced California to shut off water to agricultural fields and ration water use in homes and businesses. California and Southwestern states already import most of their water from states east of the Rocky Mountains. In the last five years they came perilously close to running out of water. Another drought could be a death knell.

Help Conserve Water

Water conservation is a worldwide problem and must be a worldwide effort. Even people who live in areas like southwestern Ohio where water is still plentiful need to start preparing for the future. Water conservation is everyone’s responsibility. Your Nixco Plumbing professional offers many state-of-the-art plumbing products that can help you start saving water today. Give us a call.

Thanks to Raymond P,H & AC

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The Rivue Restaurant & Lounge in Kentucky’s largest river city is one of 10 finalists in Cintas Corp.’s “America’s Best Restrooms IX” contest. The Rivue’s accommodations feature translucent ruby washbasins, floor-to-ceiling stall doors and cloth towels, among other amenities.

You might want to turn it into a cross-country trip and experience the Italian marble, and bronze and crystal chandeliers at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City; the fireplaces and gold columns at the Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne, Ind.; the fresh-cut flowers and scented oils at Bryant Park in New York; or the fountains and in-stall TVs at the China Grill at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, to name several of Cintas’ finalists.

On the other hand, you might just want to get online here, view photos of each finalist restroom, and cast your vote. Cincinnati-based Cintas will announce the winner in September.