Delano Municipal Code Art. II Definitions

Except where the context otherwise requires, the definitions set forth in the following sections shall apply throughout this chapter.

A. Water Commissioner or Health Official. The City Engineer of the City of Delano is invested with the authority and responsibility for the implementation of an effective cross-connection control program and for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.

B. "Approved" means accepted by the city engineer as meeting an applicable specification stated or cited in this chapter, or as suitable for the proposed use.

C. Auxiliary Water Supply. Any water supply on or available to the premises other than the purveyor's approved public water supply will be considered as an auxiliary water supply. These auxiliary waters may include water from another purveyor's public potable water supply or any natural source(s) such as a well, spring, river, stream, harbor, etc., or "used waters" or "industrial fluids". These waters may be contaminated or polluted or they may be objectionable and constitute an unacceptable water source over which the water purveyor does not have sanitary control.

D. "Backflow" means the reversal of the normal flow of water caused by either backpressure or backsiphonage.

E. "Backpressure" means the flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances under pressure into the distribution pipes of a potable water supply system from any source or sources other than the intended source.

F. "Backsiphonage" means the flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances into the distribution pipes of a potable water supply from any source other than its intended source caused by the reduction of pressure in the potable water supply system.

G. "Backflow preventer" means an assembly or means designed to prevent backflow.

1. "Air-gap" means the unobstructed vertical distance through the free atmosphere between the lowest opening from any pipe or faucet supplying water to a tank, plumbing, fixture, or other device and the flood level rim of said vessel. An approved airgap shall be at least double the diameter of the supply pipe, measured vertically, above the overflow rim of the vessel; and in no case less than one inch.

2. "Reduced pressure principle assembly" means an assembly of two independently acting approved check valves together with a hydraulically operating mechanically independent differential pressure relief valve located between the check valves and at the same time below the first check valve. The unit shall include properly located test cocks and tightly closing shut-off valves at each end of the assembly. The entire assembly shall meet the design and performance specification as determined by American Water Works Association Standard #AWWA C506-84 and a field evaluation program resulting in the approval by the city engineer. The assembly shall operate to maintain the pressure in the zone between the two check valves at an acceptable level less than the pressure on the public water supply side of the assembly. At cessation of a normal flow, the pressure between the two check valves shall be less than the pressure on the public water supply side of the device. In case of leakage of either of the check valves, the differential relief valve shall operate to maintain the reduced pressure in the zone between the check valves 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. To be approved, these assemblies must be readily accessible for in-line testing and maintenance and be installed in a location where no part of the assembly will be submerged.

3. "Double check valve assembly" means an assembly of two independently operating approved check valves with tightly closing shut-off valves on each end of the check valves, plus properly located test cocks for the testing of each check valve. The entire assembly shall meet the design and performance specifications as determined by American Water Works Association Standard #AWWA C506-84 and field evaluation program resulting in the approval by the city engineer. To be approved, these assemblies must be readily accessible for in-line testing and maintenance and be installed in a location where no part of the assembly will be submerged.

H. "Contamination" means an impairment of the quality of the potable water by sewerage, industrial fluids or waste liquids, compounds or other materials to a degree which creates an actual or potential hazard to the public health through poisoning or through the spread of disease.

I. "Cross-connection" means any physical connection or arrangement of piping of fixtures between two otherwise separate piping systems one of which contains potable water and the other nonpotable water or industrial fluids of questionable safety, through which, or because of which, backflow may occur into the potable water system. This would include any temporary connections, such as swing connections, removable sections, four way plug valves, spools, dummy section of pipe, swivel or change-over devices or sliding multiport tube.

J. Cross-Connections—Controlled. "Controlled cross-connection" means a connection between a potable water system and a nonpotable water system with an approved backflow prevention assembly properly installed and maintained so that it will continuously afford the protection commensurate with the degree of hazard.

K. "Cross-connection control by containment" means the installation of an approved backflow prevention assembly at the water service connection to any customer's premises where it is physically and economically infeasible to find and permanently eliminate or control all actual or potential cross-connections within the customer's water system; or, it shall mean the installation of an approved backflow prevention assembly on the service line leading to and supplying a portion of a customer's water system where there are actual or potential cross-connections which cannot be effectively eliminated or controlled at the point of the cross-connection.

L. Hazard, Degree of. The term is derived from an evaluation of the potential risk to public health and the adverse effect of the hazard upon the potable water system.

1. Hazard—Health. "Health hazard" means any condition, device, or practice in the water supply system and its operation which could create, or in the judgment of the city engineer, may create a danger to the health and well-being of the water consumer.

2. Hazard—Plumbing. "Plumbing hazard" means a plumbing type cross-connection in a consumer's potable water system that has not been properly protected by an approved air-gap or approved backflow prevention assembly.

3. Hazard—Pollutional. "Pollutional hazard" means an actual or potential threat to the physical properties of the water system or to the potability of the public or the consumer's potable water system but which would constitute a nuisance or be aesthetically objectionable or could cause damage to the system or its appurtenances, but would not be dangerous to health.

4. Hazard—System. "System hazard" means an actual or potential threat of severe damage to the physical properties of the public potable water system or the consumer's potable water system or of a pollution or contamination which would have a protracted affect on the quality of the potable water in the system.

M. "Industrial fluids systems" means any system containing a fluid or solution which may be chemically, biologically or otherwise contaminated or polluted in a form or concentration such as would constitute a health, system, pollutional or plumbing hazard if introduced into an approved water supply. This may include, but not be limited to: polluted or contaminated waters; all types of process waters and "used waters" originating from the public potable water system which may have deteriorated in sanitary quality; chemicals in fluid form; plating acids and alkalines; circulating cooling water connected to an open cooling tower and/or cooling towers that are chemically or biologically treated or stabilized with toxic substances; contaminated natural waters such as from well, springs, streams, rivers, bays, harbors, seas, irrigation canals or system, etc.; oils, gases, glycerine, paraffins, caustic and acid solutions and other liquid and gaseous fluids used in industrial or other purposes or for fire-fighting purposes.

N. "Pollution" means the presence of any foreign substance (organic, inorganic, or biological) in water which tends to degrade its quality so as to constitute a hazard or impair the usefulness or quality of the water to a degree which does not create an actual hazard to the public health but which does adversely and unreasonably affect such waters for domestic use.

O. Water—Potable. "Potable water" means any water which, according to recognized standards, is safe for human consumption.

P. Water—Nonpotable. "Nonpotable water" means water which is not safe for human consumption or which is of questionable potability.

Q. Water—Service connection. "Service connection" means connection from the public potable water system; i.e., where the water purveyor loses jurisdiction and sanitary control over the water at its point of delivery to the customer's water system. If a meter is installed at the end of the service connection, then the service connection shall mean the downstream end of the meter. There should be no unprotected takeoffs from the service line ahead of any meter or any back-flow prevention assembly located at the point of delivery to the customer's water system. Service connection shall also include water service connection from a fire hydrant and all other temporary or emergency water service connections from the public potable water system.

R. Water—Used. "Used water" means any water supplied by a water purveyor from a public potable water system to a consumer's water system after it has passed through the point of delivery and is no longer under the sanitary control of the water purveyor.

(Ord. 908 (part), 1990).