§ 114-253. Requirements.

(a)

Water system.

(1)

The water system shall be considered as made up of two parts: the water purveyor's system and the consumer's system.

(2)

The water purveyor's system shall consist of the source facilities and the distribution system; and shall include all those facilities of the water system under the complete control of the purveyor, up to the point where the consumer's system begins.

(3)

The source shall include all components of the facilities utilized in the production, treatment, storage, and delivery of water to the distribution system.

(4)

The distribution system shall include the network of conduits used for the delivery of water from the source to the consumer's system.

(5)

The consumer's system shall include those parts of the facilities beyond the termination of the water purveyor's distribution system which are utilized in conveying potable water to points of use.

(b)

Policies.

(1)

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 this article or other applicable provisions of this article and regulations adopted pursuant to this article. Service of water to any premises shall be discontinued by the water purveyor if a backflow prevention assembly required by this article is not installed, tested and maintained, or if it is found that a backflow prevention assembly has been removed, bypassed, or if an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises. Service will not be restored until such conditions or defects are corrected. The consumer's system should be open for inspection at all times to authorized representatives of the city, including the plumbing inspector and such other water department personnel as may be needed to determine whether unprotected cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of this article, exist. When such a condition becomes known, the city's water department shall deny or immediately discontinue service to the premises by providing for a physical break in the service line until the consumer has corrected the condition(s) in conformance with the provisions of this code of ordinances relating to plumbing and water supplies and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

(2)

An approved backflow prevention assembly shall also be installed on each service line to a consumer's water system at or near the property line or immediately inside the building being served; but, in all cases, before the first branch line leading off the service line wherever the following conditions exist:

a.

In the case of premises having an auxiliary water supply which is not or may not be of safe bacteriological or chemical quality and which is not acceptable as an additional source by the city's water department, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing an approved backflow prevention assembly in the service line commensurate with the degree of hazard.

b.

In the case of premises on which any industrial fluids or any other objectionable substance is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the public water system, the public system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing an approved backflow prevention assembly in the service line commensurate with the degree of hazard. This shall include the handling of process waters and waters originating from the water purveyor's system which have been subject to deterioration in quality.

c.

In the case of premises having (1) internal cross-connections that cannot be permanently corrected or protected against, or (2) intricate plumbing and piping arrangements or where entry to all portions of the premises is not readily accessible for inspection purposes, making it impracticable or impossible to ascertain whether or not dangerous cross-connections exist, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing an approved backflow prevention assembly in the service line.

(3)

The type of protective assembly required under subsection (b)(2)a., b., and c. shall depend upon the degree of hazard which exists as follows:

a.

In the case of any premises where there is an auxiliary water supply as stated in subsection (b)(2)a. and it is not subject to any of the following rules, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air gap or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly.

b.

In the case of any premises where there is water or substance that would be objectionable but not hazardous to health, if introduced into the public water system, the public water system shall be protected by an approved double check valve backflow prevention assembly.

c.

In the case of any premises where there is any material dangerous to health which is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard to the public water system, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air gap or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly. Examples of premises where these conditions will exist include sewage treatment plants, sewage pumping stations, chemical manufacturing plants, hospitals, mortuaries and plating plants.

d.

In the case of any premises where there are unprotected cross-connections, either actual or potential, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air gap or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly at the service connection.

e.

In the case of any premises where, because of security requirements or other prohibitions or restrictions, it is impossible or impractical to make a complete in-plant cross- connection survey, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by either an approved air gap or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly on each service to the premises.

(4)

Any backflow prevention assembly required herein shall be a make, model and size approved by the city's water department as having been manufactured in full conformance with the standards established by the American Water Works Association entitled:

AWWA/ANSI C510-92*, Standard for Double Check Valve Backflow Prevention Assemblies;

AWWA/ANSI C511-92*, Standard for Reduced Pressure Principle Backflow Prevention Assemblies;

and have met completely the laboratory and field performance specifications of the Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research of the University of Southern California (USC FCCCHR) established in:

Specifications of Backflow Prevention Assemblies, Section 10 of the most current edition of the Manual of Cross-Connection Control.

The AWWA and USC FCCCHR standards and specifications have been adopted by the city's water department. Final approval shall be evidenced by a "certificate of compliance" for the said AWWA standards, or "certificate of approval" for the said USC FCCCHR specifications, issued by an approved testing laboratory. The following testing laboratory has been qualified by the city's water department to test and approve backflow prevention assemblies: Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research, University of Southern California, KAP-200 University Park MC-2531, Los Angeles, California 90089-2531.

*Prior to 1989, the AWWA/ANSI C506 standard covered both the double check valve assembly and the reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly.

Testing laboratories other than the laboratory listed above will be added to an approved list as they are qualified by the city's water department.

Backflow preventers which may be subjected to backpressure or backsiphonage that have been fully tested and have been granted a certificate of approval by said qualified laboratory and are listed on the laboratory's current list of approved backflow prevention assemblies may be used without further test or qualifications.

(5)

It shall be the duty of the consumer at any premises where backflow prevention assemblies are installed to have a field test performed by a certified backflow prevention assembly tester upon installation and at least once per year. In those instances where the city's water department deems the hazard to be great enough, he may require field tests at more frequent intervals. These tests shall be at the expense of the water user and shall be performed by city water department personnel or by a certified tester approved by the city's water department. It shall be the duty of the city's water department to see that these tests are made in a timely manner. The consumer shall notify the city's water department in advance when the tests are to be undertaken so that an official representative may witness the field tests if so desired. The assemblies shall be repaired, overhauled or replaced at the expense of the consumer whenever said assemblies are found to be defective. Records of such tests, repairs and overhauls shall be kept and made available to the city's water department.

(6)

All presently installed backflow prevention assemblies which do not meet the requirements of this section but were approved devices for the purposes described herein at the time of installation and which have been properly maintained, shall, except for the testing and maintenance requirements under subsection (b)(5) be excluded from the requirements of this article so long as the city's water department is assured that they will satisfactorily protect the water purveyor's system. Whenever the existing device is moved from the present location or requires more than minimum maintenance or when the city's water department finds that the maintenance constitutes a hazard to health, the unit shall be replaced by an approved backflow prevention assembly meeting the requirements of this section.

(7)

The city council hereby authorizes the city's water department to make all necessary and reasonable rules, standards and policies with respect to the enforcement of this article. All such rules and policies shall be consistent with the provisions of this article and all other policies of the city in regard to water quality and the protection of potable water.

(Ord. No. 98-12, § 2, 5-14-98)