Ceres Municipal Code Ch. 28 Cross-Connection Control for Water System

For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

Air-gap separation means a physical break between a supply pipe and a receiving vessel. The air-gap shall be at least double the diameter of the supply pipe, measured vertically above the top rim of the vessel. Supply pipes less than one inch in diameter shall have a minimum air-gap of one inch.

Approved means, in reference to air-gap separation, a double check valve assembly, or a reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device or method, means as approval by the Stanislaus County Health Officer or the City.

Approved double check-valve assembly means an assembly of two independently acting, approved check valves, including tightly-closing shutoff valves on each end of the check-valve assembly and suitable connections available for testing the water tightness of each valve. To be approved, these devices must be readily accessible for maintenance and annual testing and in no case shall be less than 12 inches above the flood level of the surrounding ground or floor, and no more than 30 inches in a location where no part of the assembly will be submerged.

Approved reduced pressure principal backflow prevention device means a device incorporating two or more independently acting approved check valves and an automatically operating differential relief valve located between the two checks, two shutoff valves, and equipped with necessary appurtenances for testing. The device shall operate to maintain the pressure in the zone between the two check valves which must be less than the pressure on the public water supply side of the device. In case of leakage of either check valve, the differential relief valve shall operate to maintain this reduced pressure by discharging to the atmosphere. When the inlet pressure is two pounds per square inch or less, the relief valve shall open to the atmosphere thereby providing an air gap in the device. To be approved, these devices must be readily accessible for maintenance and annual testing and installed in no case less than 12 inches above the flood level of the surrounding ground or floor and no more than 30 inches in a location where no part of the valve will be submerged.

Approved water supply means any water supply approved by, or under the public supervision of a public health agency of the State or Stanislaus County.

Auxiliary water supply means a water supply originating on the premises that is used exclusively for fire protection or irrigation and is not connected in any manner to the domestic supply system on the premises.

City means the City of Ceres, acting through the City Manager or his designated representatives.

Cross-connection means any real or potential unprotected connection between any part of a water system used or intended to supply containing water or substance that is not or cannot be approved as safe and potable for human consumption.

Health hazard means an actual or potential threat of contamination of a physical or toxic nature to the public and consumer's potable water system to such a degree or intensity that there would be a danger to health.

Pollution hazard means an actual or potential threat to the physical properties of the water system or the public water supply that would not constitute a health or system hazard as defined.

Stanislaus County Health Officer means the operating head of the Stanislaus County Department of Environmental Health or their designated representatives.

System hazard means an actual or potential threat of severe damage to the physical properties of the public potable water system, with a pollution [pollutant] or contamination [contaminant] which would have an extended effect on the quality of potable water in the system.

Well means any artificial excavation constructed by any method for the purpose of extracting water from, or injecting water into, the underground. This definition shall not include:

1. Oil and gas wells, or geothermal wells constructed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation, except those wells converted to use as water wells; or

2. Wells used for dewatering excavation during construction, or stabilizing hillsides or earth embankments.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

A. The City Council declares that the purpose of the ordinance codified in this chapter is to protect the public water supply against actual or potential cross-connections by:

1. Requiring abandonment of private wells before premises connect to City water supply and by isolating within the premises contamination or pollution that may occur because of either an undiscovered or unauthorized cross-connection on the premises;

2. Eliminating existing connections between drinking water systems and other sources of water that are not approved as safe and potable for human consumption;

3. Eliminating cross-connections between drinking water systems and other sources of water such as processed water used for any purpose which jeopardizes the safety of the drinking water supply;

4. Preventing the creation of a cross-connection in the future;

5. Encouraging residents to use public sources of water supply exclusively;

6. Protecting the drinking water supply within premises located in the City of Ceres; where plumbing is inadequate or cross-connections may endanger the drinking water supply available on the premises.

B. All regulations cited in this chapter shall be reasonably interpreted. When interpreting these regulations, it shall be recognized that there are varying degrees of hazards and all interpretations shall apply the principle that the degree of protection should correspond with the degree of hazard.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

A. The owner of property upon which a private well is located shall have the well destroyed before being connected to the City water supply. The Director may, in special cases, consider alternatives to the abandonment of a private well, in the Director's sole discretion, with consideration and requirement to ensure the City's water system is adequately protected.

B. Abandonment of wells shall be conducted pursuant to State and federal laws and regulations.

C. Destruction of all abandoned wells, exploration holes, or test holes shall be done in such a manner that they will not produce water or act as a conduit for mixing or otherwise transferring of water between permeable zones or aquifers, and will not be a hazard to the safety and wellbeing of people or animals.

D. Destruction of the well shall be done at customer expense, with the customer having the option of having the City or private contractor do the work. All work shall be inspected by and completed to the satisfaction of the Stanislaus County Health Officer or the City.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

No water service connection to any premises shall be installed or maintained by the City unless the water supply is adequately protected in accordance with the requirements and regulations of applicable State and federal regulations, and these regulations:

A. Each service connection from the public water system for supplying water to premises having an auxiliary water supply shall be protected against backflow of water from the premises into the public water system, unless source is provided by the City.

B. Each service connection from the public water system for supplying water to premises on which any substance is or may be handled in such fashion as to permit entry into the water system shall be protected against backflow of the substance from the premises into the public system. This shall include the handling of process water and waters originating from the public water supply system which have been subject to deterioration in sanitary quality.

C. Approved backflow prevention devices shall be installed on service connections to any premises where internal cross-connections exist. It shall be the responsibility of the water user to provide, test and maintain protective devices as required at their expense.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

A. The protection device required shall depend upon the degree of hazard. An air-gap separation or a reduced pressure backflow prevention device shall be used where there is an existing or potential health or system hazard. A double check-valve assembly may be used where there is an existing or potential pollution hazard.

B. The public water system shall be protected at the service connection as provided below. Only those devices on the City of Ceres list of approved backflow prevention assemblies, which is current at the time of the assembly installation, may be used. Backflow prevention assemblies in service at the time of adoption of this chapter which do not comply with the provisions of this chapter may continue in use until the assembly is determined to be defective. Any such assembly that is determined to be defective shall be replaced by an assembly that complies with the provisions of this chapter.

1. At the service connection to any premises where there is allowed an auxiliary water supply, handled in a separate piping system with no known or easily established cross-connection, the public water supply shall be protected by an approved double check-valve assembly. When the auxiliary water supply may be contaminated, an air-gap or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device shall be installed at the service connection.

2. At the service connection to any premises on which a substance that would be objectionable, but not hazardous to health, if introduced into the public water supply, is handled so as to constitute a cross- connection, the public water supply shall be protected by an approved double check-valve assembly.

3. At the service connection to any premises on which there is an auxiliary water supply where cross-connections are known to exist, and public water supply shall be protected by an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device.

4. At the service connection to any premises on which a material dangerous to health or toxic substance in toxic concentration is or may be handled in such manner as to permit its entry into the water system, the public water supply shall be protected by an air-gap separation. The air-gap shall be located as close as possible to the meter and all piping between the meter and receiving tank shall be entirely visible. If these conditions cannot be reasonably met, the public water supply shall be protected with an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device, providing the alternative is acceptable to the City the Stanislaus County Health Officer.

5. At the service connection to any sewage treatment plant, sewage pumping station, or stormwater pumping station, the public water supply shall be protected by an air-gap separation. The separation device shall be located as close as possible to the meter and all piping between the meter and receiving tank shall be entirely visible. If these conditions cannot be reasonably met, the public water supply shall be protected with an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention device, providing there are no direct connections to sewage pumps or waste lines and this alternative is acceptable to the City or Stanislaus County Health Officer. Final decision in this matter shall rest with the State Department of Public Health.

6. At the service connection to hospitals, medical buildings, mortuaries and other premises where the Health Officer and/or the City determines that a special hazard exists, the public water supply shall be protected by an approved reduced pressure principle backflow device.

7. Where a health or safety hazard exists on a premise by reason of an existing plumbing installation, or lack thereof, the owner or his agent shall install additional plumbing or make such correction as deemed necessary to abate the hazard and bring the plumbing system into compliance with applicable provisions of this chapter.

C. The property owner or consumer who is responsible for any protective device shall have such device inspected and tested in accordance with requirements of the City or Stanislaus County Health Department. The City shall be furnished with a copy of the test result on an annual basis. Backflow tester shall be qualified and approved by the City of Ceres and the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

The owner and/or operator's premises shall be available for inspection during reasonable hours to authorized representatives of the City of Ceres to determine if protection of the public water system is required at the service connection(s).

A. Any owner and/or operator of a facility or premises where a service connection with a backflow prevention assembly is installed pursuant to this chapter, shall have each assembly tested at the time of installation and annually thereafter or more often as the City of Ceres may require. All required field testing shall be performed by a person who is currently registered with the City of Ceres as a certified tester.

B. Reports from tests performed on backflow prevention assemblies shall be filed with the City of Ceres before the test due date. In addition, such reports shall provide written notification of any device failure to the City of Ceres within 48 hours. Both the owner and the tester shall be responsible for filing the report with the City.

C. The owner and/or operator at their own expense shall repair or replace any defective backflow prevention assembly as specified by the provisions of this chapter. If at any time a pressure vacuum breaker (PVB) device fails, the City of Ceres shall be notified prior to any repairs being made so that the degree of hazard can be determined for proper protection.

D. When a new device is to be installed due to a failed test or a new installation, all materials and installation requirements shall meet the City of Ceres standard specifications.

1. To be a certified tester with the City of Ceres all the following requirements must be met:

a. Certified testers shall be certified by the American Water Works Association or equivalent and submit their card to the City annually each January.

b. Testers shall have the proper testing equipment that has been calibrated to the manufacturer's specifications within the previous 12 months and proper documentation of such calibration shall be submitted to the City annually each January.

c. Must have an active City of Ceres business license.

d. Any tester found guilty of improperly performing a test, repairs to a device, or installation, shall be removed from the City's certified tester list and shall not be allowed to perform any future backflow testing, repairs, maintenance or installations within the City of Ceres Water System.

E. Field testing procedures shall be conducted pursuant to the latest edition of the "Manual of Cross-Connection Control," published by the University of Southern California, Foundation for Cross Connection Control and Hydraulic Research for which the tester has been certified.

1. For the testing of reduced pressure principle assemblies, pressure vacuum breakers, and double check-valve assemblies: Required equipment shall include a differential pressure gauge incorporating a minimum differential range of zero to 15 pounds per square inch (psi) with maximum 0.2 psi graduations.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

Failure to comply with any section of this chapter may be cause for the discontinuance of water service by the City or the Stanislaus County Department of Public Health. The City shall give notice in writing of any violations of this chapter to the property owner and consumer. If no action is taken within ten days after such notice has been mailed or delivered in person, the City may discontinue delivery of water. If it is determined by either the City or the Stanislaus County Health Officer that any immediate hazard exists as a result of failure to comply, the City may immediately discontinue service to the premises. Delivery of water shall not be resumed until a protective device has been properly installed and approved as provided in this section.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)