A. General Provisions:
1. Unprotected cross-connections with the public water supply are prohibited. Nevada Administrative Code 445, section 408 requires the State Health Officer's written approval to interconnect water supplies.
2. Whenever backflow protection has been found necessary, the City will require the water user to install an approved backflow prevention assembly by and at the user's expense for continued services or before new service will be granted. For new water meter sets, the required backflow assembly shall be installed, inspected, approved and certified test results provided to the City within five (5) days of meter set, unless the Building Official or designee approves otherwise. The service will be locked off if inspections and certifications are not completed as specified above. A twenty five dollar ($25.00) fee will be assessed on the building permit for the installation of the backflow device.
3. Wherever backflow protection has been found necessary on a water supply line entering a water user's premises, then any and all water supply lines for the City mains entering such premises, buildings, or structures shall be protected by an approved backflow prevention assembly. The type of assembly to be installed will be in accordance with the requirements of this Chapter.
B. Where Protection Is Required:
1. Each service connection from the City water system for supplying water to premises that have an auxiliary water supply shall be protected against backflow of water from the premises into the public water system unless the auxiliary water supply is an approved water supply. Nevada Administrative Code 445, section 408 requires the State Health Officer's written approval to interconnect water supplies.
2. Each service connection from the City water system for supplying water to the premises in which any substance is handled in such fashion as may allow its entry into the water system shall be protected against backflow of the water from the premises into the public system. This shall include the handling of process waters and waters originating from the City water system which have been subjected to deterioration of sanitary quality.
3. Backflow prevention assemblies shall be installed on the service connection to any premises having: a) internal cross- connections that cannot be permanently corrected and controlled to the satisfaction of the City, or b) intricate plumbing and piping arrangements or where entry to all portions of the premises is not readily accessible for inspection purposes, making it impractical or impossible to ascertain whether or not cross-connections exist.
C. Type Of Protection Required:
1. The type of protection that shall be provided to prevent backflow into the approved water supply shall be commensurate with the degree of hazard that exists on the water user's premises. The type of protective assembly that shall be required (listing in an increasing level of protection) includes: double check valve assembly (DC), reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly (RP), and an air-gap separation (AG). The water user may choose a higher level of protection than required by the City. The minimum types of backflow protection required to protect the approved water supply, at the user's water connection, are given in Nevada Administrative Code 445A.67215 through 445A.67265. Situations that are not covered in those sections of the Nevada Administrative Code shall be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and the City shall determine the appropriate backflow protection.
2. When two (2) or more services supply water from different street mains to the same building, structure, or premises through which an interstreet main flow may occur, each water service shall have at least a standard check valve on to be located adjacent to and on the property side of the respective meters. Such check valves shall not be considered adequate if backflow protection is deemed necessary to protect the mains from pollution or contamination. In such cases the installation of approved backflow assemblies at such service connections shall be required. (Ord. 99-13, 9-21-1999)