(a) Water Purveyor.
(1) On new installations, the Water Purveyor will provide an on-site evaluation and/or inspection of plans in order to determine the type of backflow preventer assembly(blies), if any, that will be required based on actual or potential cross-connections and the degree of health hazards.
(2) For premises existing prior to the start of this program, the Water Purveyor will perform evaluations and inspections of plans and/or premises for actual and potential cross-connections and backflow conditions and inform the owner by letter of any corrective action deemed necessary, the method of achieving the correction, and the time allowed for the correction to be made. ordinarily, ninety (90) days will be allowed. However, this time period may be shortened depending upon the degree of hazard involved and the history of the device(s)/assembly(blies) already in place.
(3) The Water Purveyor will not allow any actual or potential cross-connection to remain unless it is protected by an approved air gap or backflow preventer assembly(blies) and which must be regularly tested or inspected to insure satisfactory operation.
(4) The Water Purveyor shall inform the owner by letter, of any failure to comply, prior to a re-inspection. The Water Purveyor will allow an additional fifteen days for the correction(s). In the event the owner fails to comply with the necessary correction(s) by the time of a second re- inspection, the Water Purveyor will inform the owner by letter, that the water service to the owner's premises will be terminated within a period not to exceed five days. In the event that the owner informs the Water Purveyor of extenuating circumstances as to why the correction(s) has not been made, a time extension may be granted by the Water Purveyor, but in no case will exceed an additional thirty days.
(5) If the Water Purveyor determines at any time that a serious threat to the public health exists, water service will be terminated immediately.
(6) The Water Purveyor will conduct initial and follow-up premise inspections to determine the nature of existing or potential hazards. The main focus will be on high hazard industries and commercial premises.
(7) The Water Purveyor must report any backflow incident(s) occurring in the public water system as soon as possible but no later than twenty-four hours after the incident to the WVBPH.
(b) Owner.
(1) The owner shall be responsible for the elimination or protection of all actual or potential cross-connections and/or backflow conditions on his/her premises.
(2) The owner, after having been informed by a letter from the Water Purveyor, shall at his expense, install, maintain, and test, or have tested, any and all backflow preventer assemblies on his premises.
(3) The owner shall correct within thirty days any malfunction of an air gap or backflow preventer assembly(blies) which is revealed by periodic inspection or testing. This may also involve the removal and/or replacement of the backflow preventer assembly(blies).
(4) The owner shall inform the Water Purveyor of any proposed or modified cross-connections and also any existing cross-connections of which the owner is aware, but have not been found by the Water Purveyor.
(5) The owner shall not install a by-pass around any backflow preventer assembly unless there is a backflow preventer assembly of the same type on the bypass. Owners who cannot shut down operation for testing of the assembly(blies) must supply additional assemblies necessary to allow testing to take place.
(6) The owner shall install only backflow preventer assemblies approved by the Water Purveyor or the WVBPH.
(7) The owner shall install backflow preventer assemblies in a manner approved by the Water Purveyor and general industry standards.
(8) Any Owner having a private well or other auxiliary water source must have the approval of the Water Purveyor and the WVBPH if the well or source is cross-connected to the Water Purveyor's system. Permission to cross connect may be denied. The owner may be required to install a backflow preventer assembly at the service entrance if a private water source is maintained, even if it is not cross-connected to the Water Purveyor's system.
(9) In the event the owner installs plumbing to provide potable water for domestic purposes which is on the Water Purveyor's side of a backflow preventer assembly, such plumbing must have its own backflow preventer assembly installed.
(10) The owner shall be responsible for the payment of all fees for service, permits, periodic assembly testing, retesting in the case that a backflow preventer assembly fails to operate correctly, and follow-up re-inspections for non-compliance with Water Purveyor or WVBPH requirements.
(11) The owner must maintain for a minimum of three years records of installation and removal, all testing, repair and maintenance for all assemblies/devices in the owner's water distribution system(s).
(12) The owner will report any backflow incident(s) occurring in their facility(ties)/building(s) as soon as possible but no later than twenty-four hours after the incident to the Water Purveyor and to the WVBPH. Also, the owner must maintain for a minimum of three years all records and reports of all backflow incidents occurring in their facility(ties)/building(s). These records and reports are to be made available to the Water Purveyor and/or WVBPH upon request.
(1-18-05)