Up & Coming Weekly

2 UCW MARCH 3-9, 2010 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Telephone Service 483-1382 Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, excluding holidays We're On It! 1-877-OUR-PWC1 24-Hour Emergency Visit Us Online Pay the easy way at: www.faypwc.com Customer Service - Now Located at 955 Old Wilmington Road March 2010 PWC on the Air Join host, Wendy Riddle, for PWC Connections airing on Time Warner Community Channels 7 and 60. Ch. 7 - Mar. 2, 23 8 pm Ch. 60 - Mar. 2, 9, 16, 30 10 am & 4 pm Learn about: • Earth Hour 2010 • Cash for Appliances Program • Urban Farm Tours • Greater Fayetteville Futures II • "Public Works" Art Exhibit PWC is proud to continue its designa- tion as a Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) for providing its customers with the highest degree of reliable and safe electric service, making your PWC electric services a great value. Join PWC and the City of Fayetteville in participating in Earth Hour on Saturday, March 27 at 8:30 pm. On Earth Hour, millions of people around the world will come together for this annual event that demonstrates their support of a sustainable future by doing something quite simple – turning off their lights for one hour. The event symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact by protecting our future and that of future generations. To show your participation, you can register at www.earthhour.org and then mark your calendar for 8:30 pm on March 27 and turn off non-essential lights to show your support. Join Earth Hour 8:30 pm-March 27 Preparing for Spring: Water-Wise Gardening The spring season officially begins on March 20, so it's time to return to gardens and plants for this year. Gardens can use a lot of water, but a little planning goes a long way in conserving water in gardens. There are many ways to plan for a water-wise garden; here are a few suggestions to get you started: • Visit the Cape Fear Botanical Garden to see the PWC Water-Wise Garden. This garden is an example of water-wise planting techniques. • Planning is key! For new landscaping, make a map that shows sun exposure, soil types, and areas of rainfall and rainwater flows. You can then use the map to find the best areas to plant. • Plant in shady areas where less water will evaporate in the sun. • Place plants that have similar watering needs together, so you won't over- water or under-water any plants. • Choose water-wise, warm type grass for your lawn. Centipede, Bermuda and Zoysia are best for our area. • Don't mow your lawn too much. Taller grass prevents too much evaporation of water and promotes deeper root systems for a healthier lawn. • Build your own rain barrel to water your plants. See the how-to video on the PWC website. • Use good soil and mulch, which help retain water and prevent evaporation. PWC is a member of the Partnership for Safe Drinking Water and is committed to treating water to a higher standard than the EPA requires. In fact, PWC is one of only 108 water utilities in the country to have maintained the standards of the program's Director's Award for five straight years. PWC uses the disinfection method chloramination, which uses both ammonia and chlorine. Chloraminated drinking water is perfectly safe for drinking, cooking, bathing and other daily uses. If water treated with this method is used for medical dialysis and/or aquatic pets, it does, however, require pre-treatment to remove the ammonia. Each year, PWC is required by the NC Department of Environmental and Natural Resources to temporarily stop adding ammonia to its water treatment disinfection process. Beginning March 1, PWC will stop the addition of ammonia and will resume adding it to the water treatment process on April 1. During the change, some users may experience chlorine odor or experience periods of discolored water as a result of the system maintenance during this process. PWC will "flush" water out of the system by opening fire hydrants and allowing water to flow freely. Flushing generally will occur from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm in most residential areas, and at night and early morning for commercial areas. Customers should not have a disruption of water service during flushing. During this time, there could still be traces of ammonia in the water and it is recommended that if you pre-treat to remove the ammonia, you should continue to do so. ose water-wise, warm type for your lawn. Centipede, uda and Zoysia are best ur area. t mow your lawn too . Taller grass prevents much evaporation of water romotes deeper root ms for a healthier lawn. your own rain barrel ater your plants. See ow-to video on the C website. ood soil and mulch, h help retain r and prevent oration. Safe Drinking Water ~ Our Commitment to You

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