(A) Definitions.
(1) 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, water from a private source, water of unknown or questionable safety, or steam, gases, or 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.
(2) For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply. Words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural include the singular, and words in the singular include the plural. The word SHALL is always meant to be mandatory and not merely directory.
(B) Cross connection prohibited.
(1) 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 said 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’s water utility and by the State Department of Environmental Management in accordance with 327 IAC 8-10.
(2) The city’s standards and specifications shall be the guidance of all back flow prevention policies as required by federal, state, and city authorities.
(C) Inspection.
(1) Upon presentation of credentials, the representative of the city’s water utility 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.
(2) 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 access or refusal of requested pertinent information shall be deemed evidence of the presence of cross connection.
(D) Discontinuation of service.
(1) The city’s water utility is hereby authorized and directed to discontinue water service to any property wherein any connection in violation of this subchapter exists, and to take such other precautionary measures deemed necessary to eliminate any danger of contamination of the public water system.
(a) 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.
(b) 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.
(2) If it is deemed by the city’s 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 Clerk-Treasurer of the city and delivered to the consumer’s premises, service may be immediately discontinued. The consumer shall have an opportunity for hearing with the Board of Public Works and Safety at the next scheduled meeting of such emergency discontinuance.
(E) Back flow prevention device required.
(1) 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. Any and all backflow preventer must be installed in an easily accessible location above finished grade, not in a vault, and not subject to flooding or freezing.
(2) This subchapter does not supersede the state’s Plumbing Code, or the IDEM Rule 327 IAC 8-10, but is supplementary to it.
(3) That the city’s “Public Improvement and Design Specifications and Standards”, on file in the Engineering and Planning Office, shall be the guidance of all backflow prevention policies as required by federal, state, and city authorities.
(4) If, in the judgment of the Water Utility Manager, an approved backflow prevention device is necessary for the safety of the public water system, the City Water Utility Manager will give notice to the water consumer to install such an approved device immediately. The water consumer shall, at his or her own expense, install such an approved device at a location and in a manner approved by the City Water Utility Manager and shall have inspections and tests made of such approved devices as required by the Water Utility Manager and in accordance with the IDEM Rule, 327 IAC 8-10.
(Ord. 2018-16, passed 10-10-2018; Ord. 2019-25, passed on 5-13-2020)