(1) Compliance. The City of Cookeville Department of Water Quality Control is to comply with Tennessee Code Annotated,§§ 68-221-101 and 68-221-104, as well as the Rules and Regulations for Public Water Supplies, legally adopted in accordance with this code, which pertain to cross connections, auxiliary intakes, bypasses, and inter-connections, and establish and effective, ongoing program to control these undesirable water uses.
(2) Regulated. It shall be unlawful for any person to cause a cross-connection, auxiliary intake, by-pass, or interconnection to be made; or allow one to exist for any purpose whatsoever unless the construction and operation of same have been approved by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and the operation of such cross-connections, auxiliary intake, by-pass or inter-connection is at all times under the direct supervision of the director.
(3) Statement required. Any person whose premises are supplied with water from the public water supply, and who also has on the same premises a separate source of water supply or stores water in a uncovered or unsanitary storage reservoir from which the water stored therein is circulated through a piping system, shall file with the director a statement of the non-existence or unapproved or unauthorized cross-connection, auxiliary intakes, by-passes, or inter-connections. Such statement shall also contain an agreement that no cross-connections, auxiliary intake, bypass, or interconnection will be permitted upon the premises.
(4) Inspections. It shall be the duty of the department to cause inspections to be made of all properties served by the public water supply where cross-connections with the public water supply are deemed possible. The frequency of inspections and reinspections based on the potential health hazards involved shall be as established by the director and as approved by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
(5) Right of entry. The director or his authorized representatives shall have the right to enter at any reasonable time, any property served by a connection to the Cookeville Public Water Supply for the purpose of inspecting the piping system or systems thereof for cross-connections, auxiliary intakes, by-passes, or inter-connections. On request, the owner, lessee, or occupant of any property so served shall furnish to the inspection agency any pertinent information regarding the piping system or systems on such property. The refusal of such information or refusal of access, when requested, shall be deemed evidence of the presence of cross-connections.
(6) Violations. Any person who now has cross-connections, auxiliary intakes, bypasses, or inter-connections in violation of the provisions of this ordinance shall be allowed reasonable time within which to comply with the provisions of this section. After a through investigation of existing conditions and an appraisal of the time required to complete the work, the amount of time shall be designated by the director, but in no case greater than ninety (90) days. If the violation is not corrected within the allotted time or there is an imminent threat to the water supply, then the director shall discontinue the public water supply service at any premises upon which there is found to be a cross-connection, auxiliary intake, by-pass, or inter-connection, and service shall not be restored until such cross-connection, auxiliary intake, by-pass, or interconnection has been discontinued.
(7) Protective devices. Where the nature of the use of the water supplied to premises by the department is such that it is deemed:
(a) Impractical to provide an effective air-gap separation.
(b) That the owner and/or occupant of the premises cannot or is not willing to demonstrate to the official in charge of the system, or his designated representative, that the water use and protective features of the plumbing are such as to propose no threat to the safety or potability of the water supply.
(c) That the nature and the mode of operation within a premise are such that frequent alterations are made to the plumbing.
(d) There is likelihood that protective measures may be subverted, altered, or disconnected.
The director, or his designated representative, shall require the use of an approved protective device on the service line serving the premises to assure that any contamination that may originate in the customers premises is contained therein. The protective devices shall be a reduced pressure zone type backflow preventer approved by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation as to manufacture, model, and size. The method of installation of backflow prevention devices shall be approved by the director prior to installation and shall comply with the criteria set forth by the of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The installation shall be at the expense of the owner or occupant of the premises.
The department shall have the right to inspect and test the device or devices on an annual basis or whenever deemed necessary by the director or his designated representative. Water service shall not be disrupted to test the device without the knowledge of the occupant of the premises.
Where the use of water is critical to the continuance of normal operations or protection of life, property, or equipment, duplicate units shall be provided to avoid the necessity of discontinuing water service to test or repair the protective device or devices. Where only one unit is installed and the continuance of service is critical, the director shall notify, in writing, the occupant of the premises of plans to discontinue water service and arrange for a mutually acceptable time to test and/or repair device. The water system shall require the occupant of the premises to make all repairs indicated promptly, and the expense of such repairs shall be borne by the owner or occupant of the premises. These repairs shall be made by qualified personnel, acceptable to the director.
(8) Unsafe drinking water. The potable water supply made available on the properties served by the public water system shall be protected from possible contamination as specified herein. Any water outlet which could be used for potable or domestic purposes and which is not supplied by the potable system must be labeled in a conspicuous manner as:
Water Unsafe For Drinking
Minimum acceptable sign shall have black letters one inch (1") high located on a red background.
(9) Penalties. Any person who neglects or refuses to comply with any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) and each day of continued violation shall constitute a separate offense. In addition to the foregoing fines and penalties, the director shall discontinue the public water supply service at any premises upon which there is found to be a cross-connection, auxiliary intake, by-pass, or inter-connection, and service shall not be restored until such cross-connection, auxiliary intake, by-pass, or inter-connection has been discontinued.
(10) Parts invalid. Should any part, or parts, of this section be declared invalid for any reason, no other part, or parts, of this section shall be affected thereby.
(11) Parts in conflict. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with this section shall be hereby repealed; and that this section shall take affect ten (10) days after adoption of the ordinance comprising this section.
(1970 Code, § 13-113, as replaced by Ord.#07-09-26, Oct. 2007)