(A) No water service connection to any premises shall be installed or maintained by the town’s Water Department unless the water supply is protected as required by town laws and regulations and this chapter. Service of water to any premises shall be discontinued by the town’s Water Department if a backflow prevention assembly required by this chapter is not installed, tested and maintained, or if it is found that a backflow prevention assembly had been removed, bypassed or if an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises. Service will not be restored until such conditions or defects are corrected. Appropriate fees shall be assessed for the disconnection and reconnection of water service to the consumer.
(B) (1) The consumer’s system should be open for inspection at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the town’s Water Department, to determine whether unprotected cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of these regulations, exist. When such a condition becomes known, the town’s Water Department shall deny or immediately discontinue service to the premises by providing for a physical break in the service line until the consumer has corrected the condition(s) in conformance with the town’s ordinances and codes relating to plumbing and water supplies and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto. Appropriate fees shall be assessed for disconnection and reconnection of water service to the consumer.
(2) An approved backflow prevention assembly shall also be installed on each vice line to a consumer’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, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing an approved backflow prevention assembly in the service line commensurate with the degree of hazard.
(b) In the case of premises on which any industrial fluids or any other objectionable substance is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the public water system, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing an approved backflow prevention assembly in the service line commensurate with the degree of hazard. This shall include the handling of processed waters and waters originating from the water purveyor’s system which have been subject to deterioration in quality.
(c) In the case of premises having internal cross-connections that cannot be permanently corrected or protected against, or intricate plumbing or 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.
(C) The type of protective assembly required by divisions (C)(1), (C)(2) and (C)(3) below shall depend upon the degree of hazard which exists as follows.
(1) In the case of any premises where there is an auxiliary water supply as stated in division (B)(2)(a) above and it is not subject to any of the following rules, the town’s system shall be protected by an approved air gap or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly.
(2) In the case of any premises where there is any material dangerous to health, which is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the town’s system, the town’s system shall be protected by an approved air gap or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly. Examples of premises where these conditions may exist include sewage treatment plants, sewage pumping stations, chemical manufacturing plants, hospitals, mortuaries and plating plants.
(3) In the case of any premises where there are unprotected cross-connections, either actual or potential, the town’s system shall be protected by an approved air gap or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly at the service connection.
(4) 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 town’s system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by either an approved air gap or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly on each service to the premises.
(5) Any backflow prevention assembly required herein shall be a make, model and size approved by the town’s Water Department. An APPROVED BACKFLOW PREVENTION ASSEMBLY shall mean an assembly that has been manufactured in full conformance with the standards established by the American Waterworks Association (AWWA) entitled: AWWA/ANS1 C511-07, Standard for Reduced Pressure Principle Backflow Prevention Assemblies.
(D) It shall be the duty of the consumer at any premises where backflow prevention assemblies are installed to have an initial field test performed by a certified backflow prevention assembly tester at the time of the initial installation and on a yearly basis herein after the initial installation.
(E) The town’s Water Department shall notify the consumer when the annual test is required. Thirty days shall be allowed for the consumer to complete the annual test. Failure to have the approved backflow assembly tested within the 30-day time period shall result in a ten-day door notice of disconnection of service. Upon expiration of the ten-day notice without the completion and submission to the Water Department of a satisfactory annual test, service to the consumer shall be disconnected. Appropriate fees shall be assessed for disconnection and reconnection of water service to the consumer.
(F) In those instances where the town’s Water Department deems the hazard to be serious in the sole discretion of the Water Department, the Water Department may require field tests at more frequent intervals. These tests shall be at the expense of the consumer, and shall be performed by a certified tester approved by the town’s Water Department. It shall be the duty of the town’s Water Department, to see that these tests are made in a timely manner. The consumer may notify the Department in advance when the tests are to be undertaken so that an official representative may witness the field tests, if so desired. Backflow prevention assemblies shall be repaired, overhauled or replaced at the expense of the consumer whenever said assemblies are found to be defective. Records of such tests, repairs, and overhauls shall be kept and copies filed with the town’s Water Department.
(G) The town’s Water Department shall keep an inventory of all records for a period of at least three years for State Department of Environmental Quality inspection purposes as required.
(H) All presently installed backflow prevention assemblies which do not meet the requirements of this chapter, but were approved devices for the purposes described herein at the time of installation and which have been properly maintained, shall, except for the testing and maintenance requirements under division (F) above, be excluded from the requirements of these rules so long as the town’s Water Department finds that they will satisfactorily protect the town’s water system. Whenever the existing device is moved from the present location or requires more than minimum maintenance or when the town’s Water Department finds that the maintenance constitutes a hazard to health, the backflow prevention assembly shall be replaced by an approved backflow prevention assembly meeting the requirements of this chapter or any related regulation.
(I) All backflow prevention assemblies shall be installed to allow adequate space for testing and maintenance; provide for adequate drainage; allow adequate room for shut off valve rotation; allow space for attaching fittings and hoses to test cocks; include union coupling needed for removal of or repair to backflow; include Y-type strainer used for protection of backflow device; include riser uprights that are copper wrapped in a minimum ten mil wrapping tape or PVC that may be wrapped; risers shall be a minimum of 12 inches above and a maximum of 30 inches above grade; dissimilar metals shall be avoided to prevent electrolysis by using recommended PVC; consumers shall assure there are no physical connections between the meter and the backflow device; install a box cover to protect the backflow from heat and freezing; and install new pipe at a depth of no less than 18 inches.
(J) The town’s Water Department shall submit to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality and the local health authority a written cross-connection incident report within five business days of a cross-connection problem, which has resulted in the contamination of the public water system, including the information required in A.A.C.R. 18-4-215.H.
(K) The town’s Water Department is authorized to make all necessary and reasonable rules and policies with respect to the enforcement of this chapter. All such rules and policies shall be consistent with the provisions of this chapter and shall be effective 30 days after being filed with the Town Clerk.
(Prior Code, § 17-1-9) (Ord. 00-11, passed - -2000; Ord. 01-15, passed - -2001; Ord. 09-39, passed - -2009)