(A) Where protection is required.
(1) An approved backflow device shall be installed on all connections to the public water supply as described in the Plumbing Code, 77 Illinois Administrative Code 890 and the agency’s regulations 35 Illinois Administrative Code 680. In addition, an approved backflow prevention device shall be installed on each service line to a consumer’s water system serving premises where, in the judgment of the Director of the Public Works Department, actual or potential hazards to the public water supply system exist.
(2) An approved backflow prevention device shall be installed on each service line to a consumer’s water system serving premises where one or more of the following conditions exist:
(a) Premises having an auxiliary water supply, unless the auxiliary supply is accepted as an additional source by the Director of the Public Works Department and the source is approved by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency;
(b) Premises on which any substance is handled which can create an actual or potential hazard to the public water supply system. This shall include premises having sources or systems containing process fluids or waters originating from the public water supply system which are no longer under the sanitary control of the Director of the Public Works Department;
(c) Premises having internal cross-connections that, in the judgment of the Director of the Public Works Department, are not correctable or intricate plumbing arrangements which make it impractical to determine whether or not cross-connections exist;
(d) Premises where, because of security requirements or other prohibitions or restrictions, it is impossible or impractical to make a complete cross-connection survey; or
(e) Premises having a repeated history of cross-connections being established or reestablished.
(3) An approved backflow device shall be installed on all connections to the public water supply as described in the Plumbing Code, 77 Illinois Administrative Code 890 and the agency’s regulations, 35 Illinois Administrative Code 653. In addition, an approved backflow prevention device shall be installed on each service line to a consumer’s water system serving, but not necessarily limited to the following types of facilities unless the Director of the Public Works Department determines that no actual or potential hazard to the public water system exists:
(a) Hospitals, mortuaries, clinics, nursing homes;
(b) Laboratories;
(c) Piers, docks, waterfront facilities;
(d) Sewage treatment plants, sewage pumping stations or stormwater pumping stations;
(e) Food or beverage processing plants;
(f) Chemical plants;
(g) Metal plating industries;
(h) Petroleum processing or storage plants;
(i) Radioactive material processing plants or nuclear reactors;
(j) Car washes;
(k) Pesticide or herbicide or extermination plants and trucks; and
(l) Farm service and fertilizer plants and trucks.
(B) Type of protection required.
(1) The type of protection required under this subchapter shall depend on the degree of hazard which exists as follows.
(a) An approved fixed proper air gap separation shall be installed where the public water supply system may be contaminated with substances that could cause a severe health hazard.
(b) An approved fixed proper air gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly shall be installed where the public water supply system may be contaminated with a substance that could cause a system or health hazard.
(c) An approved fixed proper air gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly or a double check valve assembly shall be installed where the public water supply system may be polluted with substances that could cause a pollution hazard not dangerous to health.
(2) The type of protection required under this subchapter shall be an approved fixed proper air gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow device.
(3) Where a public water supply or an auxiliary water supply is used for a fire protection system, reduced pressure principle backflow preventers shall be installed on fire safety systems connected to the public water supply when:
(a) The fire safety system contains antifreeze, fire retardant or other chemicals;
(b) Water is pumped into the system from another source;
(c) Water flows by gravity from a nonpotable source;
(d) Water can be pumped into the fire safety system from any other source; or
(e) There is a connection whereby another source can be introduced into the fire safety system.
(4) All other fire safety systems connected to the potable water supply shall be protected by a double check valve assembly on metered service lines and a double detector check valve assembly on unmetered service lines.
(C) Backflow prevention devices.
(1) All backflow prevention devices or methods required by these rules and regulations shall be approved by the Research Foundation for Cross-Connection Control of the University of Southern California, American Water Works Association, American Society of Sanitary Engineering, or American National Standards Institute or certified by the National Sanitation Foundation to be in compliance with applicable industry specifications.
(2) Installation of approved devices shall be made in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Maintenance as recommended by the manufacturer of the device shall be performed. Manufacturer’s maintenance manual shall be available on site.
(D) Inspection and maintenance.
(1) It shall be the duty of the consumer at any premises on which backflow prevention devices required by these regulations are installed to have inspection, tests, maintenance and repair made in accordance with the following schedule, or more often where inspections indicate a need or are specified in manufacturer’s instructions.
(a) Fixed proper air gap separations shall be inspected to document that a proper vertical distance is maintained between the discharge point of the service line and the flood level rim of the receptacle at the time of installation and at least annually thereafter. Corrections to improper or bypassed air gaps shall be made within 24 hours.
(b) Double check valve assemblies shall be inspected and tested at time of installation and at least annually thereafter, and required service performed within five days.
(c) Reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assemblies shall be tested at the time of installation and at least annually or more frequently if recommended by the manufacturer, and required service performed within five days.
(2) Testing shall be performed by a person who has been approved by the agency as competent to service the device. Proof of approval shall be in writing.
(3) Each device shall have a tag attached listing the date of most recent test or visual inspection, name of tester, and type and date of repairs.
(4) A maintenance log shall be maintained and shall include:
(a) Date of each test or visual inspection;
(b) Name and approval number of person performing the test or visual inspection;
(c) Test results;
(d) Repairs or servicing required;
(e) Repairs and date completed; and
(f) Servicing performed and date completed.
(5) Whenever backflow prevention devices required by these regulations are found to be defective, they shall be repaired or replaced at the expense of the consumer without delay as per division (D)(1)(a) of this section.
(6) Backflow prevention devices shall not be bypassed, made inoperative, removed or otherwise made ineffective without specific authorization by the Director of the Public Works Department.
(E) Booster pumps.
(1) Where a booster pump has been installed on the service line to or within any premises, the pump shall be equipped with a low pressure cutoff device designed to shut off the booster pump when the pressure in the service line on the suction side of the pump drops to 20 psi or less.
(2) It shall be the duty of the water consumer to maintain the low pressure cutoff device in proper working order and to certify to the Director of the Public Works Department, at least once a year, that the device is operable.
(F) Installations to conform to law. All plumbing installed within the city shall be installed in conformance with the Illinois Plumbing Code, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency regulations and this subchapter.
(1986 Code, § 20-55) (Ord. 1994-33, passed 11-9-1994; Ord. 2007-21, passed 12-3-2007)