(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 town water system and the other from a private source, water of unknown or questionable safety, or steam, gases, 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, other than the regular public water supply of the town, may enter the supply or distribution system of the 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 town water utility and by the state’s Department of Environmental Management in accordance with 327 I.A.C. 8-10.
(C) It shall be the duty of the Water Department to cause inspections to be made of all properties served by the public water system where cross-connections with the public water system are deemed possible. The frequency of inspections and re-inspections, based on potential health hazards involved, shall be established by the Water Department.
(D) Upon presentation of credentials, the representative of the Water 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 town for cross-connections. On request, the owner, lessee, or occupant of any property so served shall furnish to the inspection agency with 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-connections.
(E) The town water utility 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 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. 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.
(F) If it is deemed by the town 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 Town Clerk-Treasurer, 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.
(G) 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 preventer must be installed in an easily accessible location not subject to flooding or freezing.
(H) The reduced-pressure, principal backflow preventers shall not be installed below ground level.
(I) This section supplements, rather than supersedes, the state’s Plumbing Code or IDEM Rule 327 I.A.C. 8-10.
(J) In addition to IDEM Rule 327 I.A.C. 8-10-4(c), the following customer facilities need a backflow prevention device:
(1) Aircraft and missile manufacturing plants;
(2) Automotive plants, including those plants that manufacture motorcycles, automobiles, trucks, recreational vehicles, and construction and agricultural equipment;
(3) Beverage bottling plants, including dairies and breweries;
(4) Canneries, packing houses, and reduction plants;
(5) Car washes;
(6) Chemical, biological, and radiological laboratories, including those in high schools, trade schools, colleges, universities, and research institutions;
(7) Hospitals, clinics, medical buildings, autopsy facilities, morgues, other medical facilities, and mortuaries;
(8) Metal and plastic manufacturing, fabrication, 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 or 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, excluding 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; and
(17) Restricted or classified facilities (federal government defense or military installations), or other facilities closed to the supplier of water or to the Commissioner.
(K) The customer shall install and maintain in working order at all times any cross-connection control device or booster pump control device required by this rule. To ensure that each cross-connection control device required by this rule is in working order, the customer shall have each device inspected or tested by a representative of the water utility at the time of construction or installation, and at the following intervals, in the following manner.
(1) Air gaps shall be inspected at intervals not exceeding one year to ensure that they continue to meet the requirements of 327 I.A.C. 8-10-7.
(2) Reduced pressure principal backflow preventers shall be tested at intervals not exceeding one year to ensure that:
(a) Both check valves are drip-tight under all pressure differentials; and
(b) The pressure differential relief valve will maintain pressure in the center chamber at least two pounds per square inch below that of the inlet chamber.
(3) Double check valve assemblies shall be tested at intervals not exceeding one year to ensure that both check valves are drip-tight under all pressure differentials.
(4) Pressure vacuum breakers and spill-resistant vacuum breakers shall be tested at intervals not exceeding one year to ensure that the air inlet opens fully when water pressure is at or below atmospheric pressure.
(5) Atmospheric vacuum breaker backsiphonage prevention assemblies must be inspected at intervals not exceeding one year to ensure proper operation of the air inlet valve. Removal of canopy may be necessary to determine free movement of air inlet valve.
(L) The customer shall permit access to the customer’s premises by the utility representative at reasonable times, and upon presentation of identification, for inspection of the customer water system or testing of cross-connection control devices installed in accordance with this rule.
(M) If, in the judgment of the Water Department Supervisor, an approved backflow prevention device is necessary for the safety of the public water system, the Water Department Supervisor will give notice to the water consumer to install such an approved device immediately. The water consumer shall, at his, her, or its own expense, install such an approved device at a location and in a manner approved by the Water Department Supervisor, and shall have inspections and tests made of such approved devises as required by the Water Department Supervisor and in accordance with IDEM Rule 327 I.A.C. 8-10.
(Ord. 03-26-13-01, passed 3-26-2013) Penalty, see § 51.99