{"id":900,"date":"2019-06-24T15:30:39","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T15:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harrodsburgcity.org\/?page_id=900"},"modified":"2019-06-24T15:30:39","modified_gmt":"2019-06-24T15:30:39","slug":"cross-connections-backflow-prevention","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/harrodsburgcity.org\/cross-connections-backflow-prevention\/","title":{"rendered":"Cross Connections &#038; Backflow Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Protecting your\ndrinking water supply is everyone\u2019s responsibility. State regulations require\nresidential, commercial and industrial customers served by a public water\nsystem to protect the public water system from potential contamination. Under\ncertain conditions water from private plumbing can flow into the public water\ndistribution system, this is referred to as backflow. In order to prevent\npotential backflow, some customers are required to install and maintain\nbackflow prevention devices on the main water service lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is Cross Connection?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cross Connection is\nany actual or physical connection between a potable (drinkable) water supply\nand any source of non-potable liquid, solid or gas that could contaminate\ndrinking water under certain circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is Backflow?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Backflow is the\nreverse flow of water or other substances into the treated drinking water\ndistribution system. There are two types of backflow: backpressure and\nbacksiphonage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Backpressure happens when the pressure of the contaminant source\nexceeds the positive pressure in the water distribution main. An example would\nbe when a drinking water supply main has a connection to a hot water boiler\nsystem that is not protected by an approved and functioning backflow preventer.\nIf pressure in the boiler system increases to where it exceeds the pressure in\nthe water distribution system, backflow from the boiler to the drinking water\nsupply system may occur.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Backsiphonage is caused by a negative pressure (vacuum or\npartial vacuum) in the water distribution system. This situation is similar in\neffect to the sipping of water through a straw. In the drinking water\ndistribution system, negative pressure (backsiphonage) occurs during a water\nmain break or when a hydrant is used for fire fighting.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why should you be concerned?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Backflow may affect\nthe quality of the drinking water at your home, business or facility and has\nthe potential to create health hazards if contaminated water enters your water\nsupply plumbing system and is used for drinking, cooking or bathing. Backflow\nevents occur more often than you might think although most do not create health\nhazards. Unprotected cross-connections with water supply plumbing or public\ndrinking water piping systems are prohibited. We are all responsible for\nprotecting our water supply from backflow that may contaminate our drinking\nwater. It includes complying with the plumbing code and avoiding unprotected\ncross connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Who is responsible?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The responsibility for\npreventing backflow is divided. In general, state and local plumbing inspectors\nhave authority over plumbing systems within buildings while state regulatory\nagencies and public water suppliers regulate protection of the distribution\nsystem at each service connection. Water customers have the ultimate\nresponsibility for properly maintaining their plumbing systems. It is the water\ncustomer\u2019s responsibility to ensure that unprotected cross-connections are not\ncreated and that any required backflow prevention devices are tested in\naccordance with state requirements and maintained in operable condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Preventing backflow situations in your home and business<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Be aware of cross connections, eliminate or isolate them<\/li><li>Maintain air gaps on sinks and when using hoses.<\/li><li>Do not submerge hoses or place them where they could become\nsubmerged.<\/li><li>Use hose bib vacuum breakers on fixtures (hose connections in\nthe basement, laundry room, and on outside faucets\/spigots).<\/li><li>Install approved backflow prevention devices on lawn irrigation\nsystems and on fire sprinkler system services. Types of preventative required\ndevices are determined based on the potential type of pollutants or\ncontaminants high, low or moderate. In low hazard situations, the installation\nof a residential dual-check device might be allowed. &nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Protecting your drinking water supply is everyone\u2019s responsibility. State regulations require residential, commercial and industrial customers served by a public water system to protect the public water system from potential contamination. Under certain conditions water from private plumbing can flow into the public water distribution system, this is referred to as backflow. In order to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harrodsburgcity.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/900"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harrodsburgcity.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harrodsburgcity.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harrodsburgcity.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harrodsburgcity.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harrodsburgcity.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/900\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harrodsburgcity.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}