(A) Water system.
(1) The water system shall be considered as made up of two parts: the utility system and the customer’s system.
(2) UTILITY 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 utility, up to the point where the customer’s system begins.
(3) The source shall include all components of the facilities utilized in the production, treatment, storage and delivery of water to the distribution system.
(4) The distribution system shall include the network of conduits used for the delivery of water from the source to the customer’s system.
(5) The CUSTOMER’S SYSTEM shall include those parts of the facilities beyond the termination of the utility distribution system which are utilized in conveying utility-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 regulations and this subchapter. Service of water to any premises shall be discontinued by the water purveyor if a backflow prevention assembly required by this division is not installed, tested and maintained, or if it is found that a backflow prevention assembly has been removed, bypassed or if an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises. Service will not be restored until the conditions or defects are corrected.
(2) The customer’s system should be open for inspection at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the city utilities to determine whether cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of this subchapter or regulations which are adopted through this subchapter, exist. When a condition becomes known, the Water Department 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 the state and city statutes relating to plumbing and water supplies and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(3) An approved backflow prevention assembly shall also be installed on each service line to a customer’s water system at or 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 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 city utilities, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing an approved backflow prevention assembly in the service line appropriate to the degree of hazard;
(b) In the case of premises on which any industrial fluids or any other objectionable substance is handled in 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 an approved backflow prevention assembly in the service line appropriate to the degree of hazard. This shall include the handling of process waters and waters originating from the utility system which have been subject to deterioration in quality; and
(c) In the case of premises having:
1. Internal cross-connection that cannot be permanently corrected or controlled; or
2. 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 an approved backflow prevention assembly in the service line.
(4) The type of protective assembly required under divisions (B)(3)(a), (B)(3)(b) and (B)(3)(c) above 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 stated in division (B)(3)(a) of this section and it is not subject to any of the following rules, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly.
(b) In the case of any premises where there is 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 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 assembly. Examples of premises where these conditions will exist include sewage treatment plants, sewage pumping 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 assembly 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 impractical to make a complete in-plant cross-connection survey, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by either an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly on each service to the premises.
(5) (a) Any backflow prevention assembly required herein shall be a model and size approved by the city utilities. The term APPROVED BACKFLOW PREVENTION ASSEMBLY shall mean an assembly that has been manufactured in full conformance with the standards established by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) entitled AWWA C506-84 Standards for Reduced Pressure Principle and Double Check Valve Backflow Prevention Devices and, has met completely the laboratory and field performance specifications of the Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research (FCCC&HR) of the University of Southern California established by Specifications of Backflow Prevention Assemblies - Section 10 of the most current issue of the Manual of Cross-Connection Control. The AWWA and FCCC&HR standards and specifications are hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference by the city utilities to this subchapter. A list of approved devices is on file in the city utilities office. Final approval shall be evidenced by a certificate of approval issued by an approved testing laboratory certifying full compliance with the AWWA standards and FCCC&HR specifications.
(b) The following testing laboratory has been qualified by the city utilities to test and certify backflow preventers:
Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research
University of Southern California
University Park
Los Angeles, California 90089
(c) Testing laboratories other than the laboratory listed above will be added to an approved list as they are qualified by the city utilities. Backflow preventers which may be subjected to backpressure or backsiphonage that have been fully tested and have been granted a certificate of approval by the qualified laboratory and are listed on the laboratory’s current list of approved backflow prevention assemblies may be used without further test or qualification.
(6) It shall be the duty of the customer/user at any premises where backflow prevention assemblies are installed to have certified inspections and operational tests made upon installation and at least once per year. In those instances where the Utilities Water Department Superintendent deems the hazard to be great enough he or she may require certified inspections at more frequent intervals. These inspections and tests shall be at the expense of the water user and shall be performed by the assembly manufacturer’s representative, city utilities personnel or by a certified tester approved by the city utilities. It shall be the duty of the city utilities to see that these tests are made in a timely manner. The customer/user shall notify the city utilities in advance when the tests are to be undertaken so that an official representative may witness the tests if so desired. These assemblies shall be repaired, overhauled or replaced at the expense of the customer/user whenever the assemblies are found to be defective. Records of the tests, repairs and overhaul shall be kept and made available to the city utilities.
(7) All presently installed backflow prevention assemblies which do not meet the requirements of this section but were approved devices for the purposes described herein at the time of installation and which have been properly maintained, shall, except for the inspection and maintenance requirements under division (B)(6) above, be excluded from the requirements of these rules so long as the city utilities is assured that they will satisfactorily protect the utility system. Whenever the existing device is moved from the present location or requires more than minimum maintenance or when the city utilities finds that the maintenance constitutes a hazard to health, the unit shall be replaced by an approved backflow prevention assembly meeting the requirements of this section.
(Prior Code, § 25-78.3) (Ord. 90-17, passed 9-10-1990)