(A) Water system.
(1) The water system shall be considered as made up of two parts, the city system and the customer system.
(2) The city system shall consist of the source facilities and the distribution system and shall include all those facilities of the water system under the complete control of the city, from the source of supply up to the point where the customer's system begins. The source shall include all components of the facilities utilized in the production, treatment, storage, and delivery of water to the distribution system.
(3) The distribution system shall include the network of conduits used for the delivery of water from the source to the customer's system.
(4) The customer's system shall include those parts of the facilities beyond the termination of the city distribution system which are utilized in conveying city-delivered domestic water to points of use.
(B) Policy.
(1) No water service connection to any premises shall be installed or maintained by the water purveyor unless the water supply is protected as required by state laws and the provisions of this chapter. Service of water to any premises shall be discontinued by the water purveyor if a backflow prevention device required by state law or by the provisions of this chapter is not installed, tested, and maintained, or if it is found that a back-flow prevention device has been removed or bypassed, or if an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises. Service will not be restored until such conditions or defects are corrected.
(2) The customer's system should be open for inspection at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the Maintenance Services Department to determine whether cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of the provisions of this chapter, exist. When such a condition becomes known, the Director of Maintenance Services shall deny or immediately discontinue service to the premises by providing for a physical break in the service line until the customer has corrected the condition in conformance with state and city laws relating to plumbing and water supplies and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(3) An approved backflow prevention device shall also be installed on each service line to a customer's water system at or near the property line or immediately outside the building being served but, in all cases, before the first branch line leading off the service line, wherever the following conditions exist:
(a) In the case of premises having an auxiliary water supply which is not or may not be of safe bacteriological or chemical quality and which is not acceptable as an additional source by the Director of Community Development, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing a backflow prevention device in the service line appropriate to the degree of hazard.
(b) In the case of premises on which any industrial fluid or any other objectionable substance is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the public water system, the public system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing a backflow prevention device in the service line appropriate to the degree of hazard. This shall include the handling of process waters and waters originating from the city systems which have been subject to deterioration in quality.
(c) In the case of premises having any internal cross-connection that cannot be permanently corrected and controlled, or intricate plumbing and piping arrangements, or where entry to all portions of the premises is not readily accessible for inspection purposes, making it impracticable or impossible to ascertain whether or not dangerous cross-connections exist, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing a backflow prevention device in the service line.
(4) The type of protective device required pursuant to the provisions of subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of subdivision (3) of this division shall depend upon the degree of hazard which exists as follows:
(a) In the case of any premises where there is an auxiliary water supply as set forth in subdivision (3)(a) of this division, which is not otherwise subject to the provisions of this chapter, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow.
(b) In the case of any premises where there is any water or substance that would be objectionable but not hazardous to health if introduced into the public water system, the public water system shall be protected by an approved double check valve assembly.
(c) In the case of any premises where there is any material dangerous to health which is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the public water system, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device. Examples of premises where these conditions will exist include sewage treatment plants, sewage plumbing stations, chemical manufacturing plants, hospitals, mortuaries, and plating plants.
(d) In the case of any premises where there are uncontrolled cross-connections, either actual or potential, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device at the service connection.
(e) In the case of any premises where, because of security requirements or other prohibitions or restrictions, it is impossible or impracticable to make a complete in-plant cross-connection survey, the public water system shall be protected against backflow or back-siphonage from the premises by the installation of a backflow prevention device in the service line. In this case, maximum protection will be required; that is, an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device shall be installed in each service to the premises.
(5) The following specific types of uses and other uses as designated by the City Engineer shall be required to install a backflow prevention device of the type indicated as a minimum:
Uses Type of Devices
Auxiliary water systems:
Interconnected Reduced pressure
Not interconnected Double check valve
Beverage bottling plants Double check valve
Buildings with booster pump
systems and/or water storage
tanks Double check valve
Canneries, packinghouses, and
reduction plants Reduced pressure
Buildings with sewage ejectors Air-gap separation
Car washes Reduced pressure
Chemical processing or storage
facilities Reduced pressure
Laundries Reduced pressure
Dairies Double check valve
Dye works Reduced pressure
Film processing laboratories Reduced pressure
Fire systems:
No auxiliary supply Double check valve
Auxiliary supply Reduced pressure
Frozen food processing plants Reduced pressure
Schools:
Lab facility/auxiliary supply Reduced pressure
No lab facility/no auxiliary supply Double check valve
Lab facility/no auxiliary supply Double check valve
No lab facility/auxiliary supply Reduced pressure
Hospitals Reduced pressure
Mortuaries and medical/dental
buildings Reduced pressure
Irrigation systems (all) Double check valve
Laboratories, commercial Reduced pressure
Manufacturing or processing
using toxic materials Reduced pressure
Mobile home parks Double check valve
Multi-story buildings
(3 or more stories) Double check valve
Oil or gas production facilities Reduced pressure
Pulp and paper processing Reduced pressure
Plating plants Reduced pressure
Sand and gravel plants Double check valve
Sewage and storm drain pumping
facilities Air-gap separation
Swimming pools Reduced pressure
Boat docks and marinas Reduced pressure
Tank trucks using hydrant
supply Double check valve
Portable insecticide and
herbicide spray tanks Air-gap separation
(6) (a) Any backflow prevention device required by the provisions of this chapter shall be of a model and size approved by the City Engineer. The term
APPROVED BACKFLOW PREVENTION DEVICE shall mean a device that has been manufactured in full conformance with the standards established by the American Water Works Association entitled “AWWA C506-69 Standards for Reduced Pressure Principle and Double Check Valve Backflow Prevention Devices” and which has met completely the laboratory and field performance specifications of the Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research of the University of Southern California established by the “Specifications of Backflow Prevention Devices - #69-2” dated March, 1969, or the most current issue.
(b) Said AWWA and FCCC&HR standards and specifications have been adopted by the City Engineer. The final approval of any device or system proposed for installation pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be evidenced by a “Certificate of Approval” issued by an approved testing laboratory certifying full compliance with said AWWA standards and FCCC&HR specifications.
(c) The following testing laboratory has been qualified by the Director of Community Development to test and certify backflow preventers:
Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research
University of Southern California
University Park
Los Angeles, California 90007
(d) Testing laboratories other than the laboratory listed above will be added to an approved list as they are qualified by the City Engineer.
(e) Backflow preventers which may be subjected to back pressure or back-siphonage and which have been fully tested and granted a certificate of approval by such qualified laboratory and are listed on the laboratory's current list of “approved devices” may be used without further test or qualification.
(7) It shall be the duty of the city at any premises where backflow prevention devices are installed to have a certified inspection or operational test made at least once each year. In those instances where the City Engineer deems the hazard to be great enough, he may require certified inspections at more frequent intervals. These inspections and tests may be at the expense of the water user and shall be performed by the device manufacturer's representa-tive, by the Maintenance Services Department personnel, or by a certified tester approved by the City Engineer. It shall be the duty of the Director of Maintenance Services to see that these timely tests are made. The customer-user shall be notified by the Director of Maintenance Services in advance when the tests are to be undertaken so that he or his representative may witness the tests if it is so desired. Those devices found to be defective shall be repaired, overhauled, or replaced at the expense of the customer-user. Records of such tests, repairs, and overhaul shall be kept by the Maintenance Services Department.
(8) All presently installed backflow prevention devices which do not meet the require-ments of this section but were approved devices for the purposes described in this chapter at the time of their installation and which have been properly maintained shall, except for the inspection and maintenance requirements of subdivision (6) of this division, be excluded from the requirements of these rules so long as the City Engineer is assured that they will satisfactorily protect the city system. Whenever the existing device is moved from the present location or requires more than minimum maintenance, or when the Director of Maintenance Services finds that the continued maintenance of such device constitutes a hazard to health, the unit shall be replaced by a backflow prevention device meeting the requirements of this section at the expense of the customer-user.
(C) The City Engineer is hereby authorized and empowered to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
('66 Code, § 6-7.04) (Ord. 262-C-S, passed 10-10-74) Penalty, see §§ 1-2.01 et seq.