(A) No water service connection to any premises shall be installed or maintained by the city unless the water supply is protected as required by state law, state regulations, and this subchapter. Service of water to any premises shall be discontinued by the city if a backflow prevention device required by this subchapter is not installed, tested, and maintained, or if it is found that a backflow prevention device has been removed or bypassed, or if an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises. Service will not be restored until the conditions or defects are corrected.
(B) The customer’s system should be open for inspection and tests at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the city to determine whether cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including any violation of this subchapter exist. When a condition becomes known, the Superintendent 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(s) in conformance with state and city laws relating to plumbing and water supplies and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(C) If an approved backflow prevention device is to be installed on a service line to a customer’s water system, it shall be installed near the property line or immediately inside the building being served; but, in all cases, before the first branch line leading off the service line.
(D) Backflow prevention devices shall be installed under circumstances including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) Premises having an auxiliary water supply;
(2) Premises having cross-connections that are not correctable or have intricate plumbing arrangements which make it impractical to ascertain whether or not cross-connections exist;
(3) Premises where entry is restricted so that inspections for cross-connections cannot be made with sufficient frequency or at sufficiently short notice to assure that cross-connections do not exist;
(4) Premises having a history of cross-connections being established or re-established;
(5) Premises on which any substance is handled under pressure so as to permit entry into the public water supply, or where a cross-connection could reasonably be expected to occur. This shall include handling of process waters and cooling waters;
(6) Premises where materials of a toxic or hazardous nature are handled in a way that, if back siphonage should occur, a serious health hazard might result; and
(7) The following types of facilities will fall into one of the above categories where a backflow prevention device is required to protect the public water supply. A backflow prevention device is required to protect the public water supply. A backflow prevention device shall be installed at these facilities unless the city determines that no hazard exists:
(a) Hospitals, mortuaries, clinics;
(b) Laboratories;
(c) Metal plating industries;
(d) Piers and docks;
(e) Sewage treatment plants;
(f) Food or beverage processing plants;
(g) Chemical plants using a water process;
(h) Petroleum processing or storage plants;
(i) Radioactive material processing plants or nuclear reactors;
(j) Facilities with fire service lines as specified by State Health Division; and/or
(k) Others specified by the city.
(E) The type of protective device required shall depend on the degree of hazard which exists.
(1) An air-gap separation or a reduced-pressure-principle backflow prevention device shall be installed where the public water supply may be contaminated with sewage, industrial waste of a toxic nature, or other contaminant which could cause a health or system hazard.
(2) In the case of a substance which may be objectionable but not hazardous to health, a double check valve assembly, air-gap separation, or a reduced-pressure-principle backflow prevention device shall be installed.
(F) Backflow prevention devices required by this subchapter shall be installed under the supervision, and with the approval, of the city.
(G) Any protective device required by this subchapter shall be approved by the Manager.
(H) These devices shall be furnished and installed by and at the expense of the customer.
(I) (1) It shall be the duty of the customer-user at any premises where backflow prevention devices are installed to have certified inspections and operational tests made at least once per year.
(2) In those instances where the Manager deems the hazard to be great enough, he or she may require certified inspections at more frequent intervals.
(3) These inspections and tests shall be at the expense of the water user and shall be performed by a certified tester approved by the Manager.
(4) It shall be the duty of the Manager to see that these timely tests are made.
(5) The customer-user shall notify the Manager in advance when the tests are to be undertaken so that the Superintendent or a representative may witness the tests if so desired.
(6) These devices shall be repaired, overhauled, or replaced at the expense of the customer-user whenever the devices are found to be defective.
(7) Records of the tests, repairs, and overhaul shall be kept and copies sent to the Manager.
(J) No underground sprinkling device will be installed without adequate backflow prevention devices.
(K) Failure of the customer to cooperate in the installation, maintenance, testing, or inspection of backflow prevention devices required by this subchapter or by state law shall be grounds for the termination of water service to the premises.
(L) All new structures shall have, at a minimum, an approved double-check backflow prevention device installed immediately adjacent to the water meter on the customer side.
(Ord. 319, passed 10-10-1994; Ord. 03-2008, passed 5-12-2008) Penalty, see § 53.99