(A) 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 law and regulation and this chapter. Service of water to any premises shall be discontinued by the water purveyor if a backflow prevention device required by this chapter is not installed, tested, and maintained, or if it is found that a backflow prevention device has been removed, by-passed, or if an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises. Service will not be restored until such conditions or defects are corrected.
(B) (1) The owner’s system shall be open for inspection and tests at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the purveyor to determine whether cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of these regulations, exist.
(2) When such a condition becomes known, the city shall notify the property owner that the condition must be corrected within 30 days. If the condition is not corrected within 30 days, the Director of Public Works may deny or discontinue service to the premises by providing for a physical break in the service line until the customer has corrected the conditions(s) in conformance with the state and city statutes relating to plumbing and water supplies and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(C) Backflow prevention devices may be required under circumstances including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) Premises having an auxiliary water supply;
(2) Premises having cross-connections that are not correctable, or intricate plumbing arrangements which make it impractical to ascertain whether or not cross-connections exist;
(3) Premises where entry is restricted so that inspections for cross-connections cannot be made with sufficient frequency or at sufficiently short notice to assure that cross-connections do not exist;
(4) Premises having a history of cross-connections being established or re-established;
(5) Premises on which any substance is handled under pressure so as to permit entry into the public water supply, or whether a cross-connection could reasonably be expected to occur. This shall include the handling of process waters and cooling waters;
(6) Premises where materials of a toxic or hazardous nature are handled in such a way that if back siphonage should occur, a serious health hazard might result;
(7) The following types of facilities will fall into one of the above categories where a backflow prevention device is required to protect the public water supply. A backflow prevention device shall be installed at these facilities unless the purveyor determines that no hazard exists. See Oregon Regulations for public drinking water systems 333-61-0070:
(a) Hospitals, mortuaries, clinics;
(b) Laboratories;
(c) Metal plating industries;
(d) Sewage treatment plants;
(e) Food or beverage processing plants;
(f) Chemical plants using a water process;
(g) Petroleum processing or storage plants;
(h) Radioactive material processing plants or nuclear reactors;
(i) Underground irrigation systems; and
(j) Others specified by the purveyor.
(D) The type of protective device required shall depend on the degree of hazard which exists.
(1) An air-gap separation or a reduced-pressure-principle backflow prevention device shall be installed where the public water supply may be contaminated with sewage, industrial waste of a toxic nature, or other contaminant which could cause a health or system hazard.
(2) In the case of a substance which may be objectionable but not hazardous to health, a double check valve assembly or a reduced-pressure-principle backflow prevention device shall be installed.
(E) Backflow prevention devices required by this chapter shall be installed under the supervision of and with the approval of the purveyor in accordance with Recommended Installation Practices, Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 333, Public Water System, as amended.
(F) Any protective device required by this chapter shall be approved by the Director of Public Works.
(G) These devices shall be furnished and installed by and at the expense of the customer.
(H) (1) It shall be the duty of the user at any premises where backflow prevention devices are installed to have certified inspections and operational tests made at the time of installation and at least once per year.
(2) In those instances where the Director of Public Works 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 a certified tester approved by the Director of Public Works. It shall be the duty of the Director of Public Works to see that these timely tests are made.
(3) The user shall notify the Director of Public Works in advance when the tests are to be undertaken so that he or she or his or her representative may witness the tests if so desired. These devices shall be repaired, overhauled, or replaced at the expense of the user whenever said devices are found to be defective. Records of such tests, repairs, and overhaul shall be kept and copies sent to the Director of Public Works.
(I) Failure of the customer to cooperate in the installation, maintenance, testing, or inspection of backflow prevention devices required by this chapter or by state law shall be grounds for the termination of water service to the premises.
(Ord. 346, passed 4-13-1992) Penalty, see § 52.99