(A) A
CROSS CONNECTION shall be defined as any physical connection or arrangement between two otherwise separate systems, one of which contains potable water from the city water system, and the other from a private source, water of unknown or questionable safety, or steam, gases, chemicals, whereby there may be a flow from one system to the other, the direction of flow depending on the pressure differential between the two systems.
(B) No person, firm or corporation shall establish or permit to be established, or maintain or permit to be maintained, any cross connection. No interconnection shall be established whereby potable water from a private, auxiliary, or emergency water supply other than the regular public water supply of the city may enter the supply or distribution system of the municipality, unless such private auxiliary or emergency water supply, and the method of connection and use of such supply, shall have been approved by the city water utility and by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in accordance with 327 IAC 8-10.
(C) It shall be the duty of the Water Department to cause inspections to be made of all properties served by the public water system where cross connections with the public water system are deemed possible. The frequency of inspections and re-inspections, based on potential health hazards involved, shall be established by the Water Department.
(D) Upon presentation of credentials, the representative of the Water Department shall have the right to request entry at any reasonable time to examine the property served by a connection to the public water system of the city for cross connections. On request, the owner, lessee, or occupant of any property so served shall furnish to the inspection agency with any pertinent information regarding the piping system or systems on such property. The refusal of access or refusal of requested pertinent information shall be deemed evidence of the presence of cross connections.
(E) The city water utility is hereby authorized and directed to discontinue water service to any property wherein any connection in violation of this section exists, and to take such other precautionary measures deemed necessary to eliminate any danger of contamination of the public water system. Water service shall be discontinued only after reasonable notice is served on the owner, lessee, or occupants of the property or premises where a violation is found or suspected to exist. Water service to such property shall not be restored until the cross connection(s) has been eliminated in compliance with the provisions of this section.
(F) If it is deemed by the city water utility that a cross connection or an emergency endangers public health, safety, or welfare and requires immediate action, and a written finding to that effect is filed with the City Clerk, and delivered to the consumer's premises, service may be immediately discontinued. The consumer shall have an opportunity for a hearing within ten days of such emergency discontinuance.
(G) All consumers using toxic or hazardous liquids, all hospitals, mortuaries, wastewater treatment plants, laboratories and all other hazardous users shall install and maintain a reduced-pressure, principal backflow preventer in the main water line serving each building on the premises. The backflow preventer must be installed in an easily accessible location not subject to flooding or freezing.
(H) The reduced-pressure, principal backflow preventers shall not be installed below ground level.
(I) This section does not supersede the Indiana Plumbing Code or IDEM Rule 327, or IAC 8-10, but is supplementary to them.
(J) In addition to IDEM Rule 327 IAC 8-10-4(c), the following customer facilities need a backflow prevention device:
(1) Aircraft and missile manufacturing plants.
(2) Automotive plants, including those plants that manufacture motorcycles, automobiles, trucks, recreational vehicles, and construction and agricultural equipment.
(3) Beverage bottling plants, including dairies and breweries.
(4) Canneries, packing houses, and reduction plants.
(5) Car washes.
(6) Chemical, biological, and radiological laboratories, including those in high schools, trade schools, colleges, universities and research institutions.
(7) Hospitals, clinics, medical buildings, autopsy facilities, morgues, other medical facilities, and mortuaries.
(8) Metal and plastic manufacturing, fabrication, cleaning, plating, and processing facilities.
(9) Plants manufacturing paper and paper products.
(10) Plants manufacturing, refining, compounding, or processing fertilizer, film, herbicides, natural or synthetic rubber, pesticides, petroleum or petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, radiological materials, or any chemical that could be a contaminant to the public water supply.
(11) Commercial facilities that use herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers or any chemical that could be a contaminant to the public water supply.
(12) Plants processing, blending or refining animal, vegetable or mineral oils.
(13) Commercial laundries and dye works, excluding coin-operated Laundromats.
(14) Sewage, storm water, and industrial waste treatment plans and pumping stations.
(15) Waterfront facilities, including piers, docks, marinas, and shipyards.
(16) Industrial facilities that recycle water.
(17) Restricted or classified facilities (federal government defense or military installations), or other facilities closed to the supplier of water or to the Commissioner.
(K) If, in the judgment of the Water Superintendent, an approved backflow prevention device is necessary for the safety of the public water system, the Water Superintendent will give notice to the water consumer to install such an approved device immediately. The water consumer shall, at its own expense, install such an approved device at a location and in a manner approved by the Water Superintendent, and shall have inspections and tests made of such approved devises as required by the Water Superintendent and in accordance with IDEM Rule 327 IAC 8-10.
(1980 Code, § 52.15) (Ord. 607, passed 5-25-1971; Am. Ord. 2010-34, passed 12-28-2010) Penalty, see § 10.99