(A) If, in the judgement of the Safety-Service Director, an approved backflow prevention device is necessary for the safety of the public water system, the Safety-Service Director will give notice to the water consumer to install the approved device immediately. The water consumer shall, at his or her own expense, install this approved device at a location and in a manner approved by the Safety-Service Director and shall have inspections and tests made of such approved devices as required by the Safety-Service Director.
(B) No person, firm, or corporation shall establish or permit to be established or maintain or permit to be maintained any connection whereby a private, auxiliary, or emergency water supply other than the regular public water supply of Van Wert may enter the supply or distributing system of the municipality, unless such private, auxiliary, or emergency water supply shall have been approved by the Safety-Service Director and by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
(C) It shall be the duty of the Safety-Service Director or his or her designee to cause surveys and investigations to be made of industrial and other properties served by the public water supply where actual or potential hazards to the public water supply may exist. These surveys and investigations shall be made a matter of public record and shall be repeated as often as the Safety-Service Director shall deem necessary.
(D) The Safety-Service Director or his or her duly authorized representative shall have the right to enter, at any reasonable time, any property served by a connection to the public water supply or distributing system for the purpose of inspecting the piping systems thereof. On demand, the owner, lessees, or occupants of any property so served shall furnish to the Safety-Service Director any information which he or she may request regarding the piping systems or water use on the property. The refusal of this information, when demanded, shall, within the discretion of the Safety-Service Director, be deemed evidence of the presence of improper connections as provided in this section.
(E) The Safety-Service Director is authorized and directed to discontinue, after reasonable notice to the occupant thereof, the water service to any property wherein any connection in violation of the provisions of this section is known to exist, and to take other precautionary measures as he or she may deem necessary to eliminate any danger of contamination of the public water supply distribution mains. Water service to the property shall not be restored until such conditions shall have been eliminated or corrected in compliance with the provisions of this section.
(1981 Code, § 50.03) (Ord. 4045-62, passed 8-27-1962; Am. Ord. 5680-80, passed 8-11-1980; Am. Ord. 00-08-069, passed 10-9-2000) Penalty, see § 50.99
Statutory reference:
Tampering with Water Company apparatus; unauthorized connections, see R.C. § 4933.22