(A) 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.
(B) 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 and the method of connection and use of such supply shall have been approved by the Department of Water Works and by the state Department of Environmental Management in accordance with 327 IAC 8-10.
(C) It shall be the duty of the Water Works Department to cause inspection to be made of all properties served by the public water system where cross connections with the public water system is deemed possible.
(1) The frequency of inspections and reinspection based on potential health hazards involved shall be established by the Water Works Department.
(2) Upon presentation of credentials, the representative of the Water Works Department 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. On request, the owner, lessee, or occupant of any property so served, shall furnish to the inspection agency any pertinent information regarding the piping systems on such property. The refusal of access or refusal of requested pertinent information shall be deemed evidence of the presence of cross connections.
(3) The Department of Water Works is hereby authorized and directed to discontinue water service to any property wherein any connection in violation of this section exists, and to take such other precautionary measures deemed necessary to eliminate any danger of contamination of the public water system. Water service shall not be restored until the cross connection(s) has been eliminated in compliance with the provisions of this subchapter. If it is deemed by the Department of Water Works 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 and delivered to the consumer’s premises, service may be immediately discontinued. The consumer shall have an opportunity for a hearing within ten days of such emergency discontinuance.
(D) 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. The backflow preventor must be installed in an easily accessible location not subject to flooding or freezing.
(E) That all consumers determined by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) as high hazard by using toxic or hazardous liquids, which includes:
(1) Aircraft and missile manufacturing plants;
(2) Automotive plants;
(3) Beverage bottling plants, including dairies and breweries;
(4) Canneries, packing houses and reduction plants;
(5) Car washes;
(6) Chemical, biological, radiological laboratories, including those in high schools, trade schools, colleges, universities and research institutions;
(7) Hospitals, clinics, medical buildings, autopsy facilities, morgues, medical facilities and mortuaries;
(8) Metal and plastic manufacturing, fabricating, cleaning, plating and processing facilities;
(9) Plants manufacturing paper and paper products;
(10) Plants manufacturing, refining, compounding, or processing fertilizer, film, herbicides, natural or synthetic rubber, pesticides, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, radiological materials, or any chemical that could be a contaminant to the public water supply;
(11) Commercial facilities that use herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, or any chemical that could be a contaminant to the public water supply;
(12) Plants processing, blending, or refining animal, vegetable or mineral oils;
(13) Commercial laundries and dye works, including coin-operated laundromats;
(14) Sewage, storm water and industrial waste treatment plants and pumping stations;
(15) Waterfront facilities, including piers, docks, marinas and shipyards;
(16) Industrial facilities that recycle water;
(17) Restricted or classified facilities (federal government defense or military installations), or other facilities closed to the supplier of water or to the Commissioner;
(18) Private water wells connected to the municipal water system;
(19) Irrigation systems;
(20) Any other application deemed a risk to the public water supply as determined by the City of Rochester Water Department.
(F) The reduced pressure principle backflow preventers shall not be installed below ground level. All reduced pressure principle backflow preventers must be installed in an easily accessible location not subject to flooding or freezing as approved by the City of Rochester Water Department.
(G) This section does not supersede the Indiana Plumbing Code, the IDEM Rule 327 IAC 8-10 or the city plumbing ordinances, but it supplementary to them.
(H) If, in the judgment of the Superintendent of Water, an approved backflow prevention device is necessary for the safety of the public water system, the Superintendent of Water 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 Superintendent of Water and shall have inspections and test made of such approved devices as required by the Superintendent of Water and in accordance with the IDEM Rule 327 IAC 8-10.
(Ord. 31-1999, passed 11-9-99; Am. Ord. 09-2016, passed 9-6-16)