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What YOU need to know about Backflow Prevention!
Under the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, the Federal Government has established, through the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), national standards for safe drinking water. Water purveyors (suppliers) are responsible for the enforcement of these standards as well as the supervision of the public water supply systems and the sources of drinking water. The water purveyor (supplier) is held responsible for compliance with the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act, to include a warranty that water quality provided by their operation is in conformance with the EPA standards at the source, and is delivered to the customer without the quality being compromised as a result of its delivery through the distribution system. A cross-connection and backflow prevention program is required to help ensure that the quality of water in their distribution system is not compromised.
Most water authorities and municipal water suppliers conform to a program known as cross-connection and backflow prevention by containment. This is a program whereby all connections to the main distribution system is protected by a backflow prevention assembly. Commercial locations are required to have a testable backflow prevention assembly installed at or near the service meter. This assembly must be tested annually to ensure that it is working properly.
From time to time an assembly will fail and need to be REPAIRED!
Note I emphasize repaired. Much too often I here of testers failing assemblies and telling their customers that the assembly must be replaced. In most cases the assembly will need to be cleaned internally. In the event that cleaning is not enough then replacement of the valves may be called for in either event the cost should be substantially less than replacement. If an assembly is properly installed it should last many years. Even the best installed will most probably need to be repaired internally for several reasons but it is my opinion that the external parts of an assembly should last a very long time if installed properly.
This is what we strive for!
In the next section you will see examples of how CRC Backflow Prevention Services install these assemblies. I recommend that if you are required to have a testable Backflow Prevention assembly installed get at least 3 estimates and make sure that whoever you choose to do the work knows, understands, and is willing to install according to the installation requirements or better of the manufacturer and or the Water or Municipal Authority ordinance. In most cases the ordinance will show how an assembly should be installed. We however go beyond that requirement!
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