Delano Municipal Code Art. III Requirements

A. The water system shall be considered as made up of two parts: the utility system and the customer system.

B. The utility 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 utility, up to the point where the customer's system begins.

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

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

E. The customer's system shall include those parts of the facilities beyond the termination of the utility distribution system which are utilized in conveying utility-delivered domestic water to points of use.

(Ord. 908 (part), 1990).

A. 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 state laws and regulations and this document. The city may discontinue the service of water to any premises and may physically disconnect the consumer's piping from the city's water system if a backflow prevention device required herein is not installed, tested, and maintained; or if any defect found in an installed backflow prevention device is not corrected within the prescribed three-day period; or if it is found that a backflow prevention assembly has been removed, by-passed; or if an unprotected cross-connection exists on the premises. Service will not be restored until such conditions or defects are corrected.

B. The customer's system should be open for inspection at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the engineering department to determine whether cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of these regulations, exist. When such a condition becomes known, the city engineer, shall deny or immediately discontinue service to the premises by providing for a physical break in the service line until the customer has corrected the condition(s) in conformance with the state and city statutes relating to plumbing and water supplies and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

C. An approved backflow prevention assembly shall also be installed on each service line to a customer'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:

1. 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 engineer, the public water system shall be protected against backflow from the premises by installing an approved backflow prevention assembly in the service line appropriate to the degree of hazard.

2. 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 appropriate to the degree of hazard. This shall include the handling of process waters and waters originating from the utility system which have been subject to deterioration in quality.

3. In the case of premises having (a) internal cross-connection that cannot be permanently corrected or controlled, or (b) 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.

4. Containing a fire sprinkler system or fire hydrant.

D. The type of protective assembly required under subsections 13.10.040(C) 1, 2, and 3 shall depend upon the degree of hazard which exists as follows:

1. In the case of any premises where there is an auxiliary water supply as stated in subsection 13.10.040 C1 of this section and it is not subject to any of the following rules, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly.

2. 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 assembly.

3. 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 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.

4. In the case of any premises where there are "uncontrolled" cross-connections, either actual or potential, the public water system shall be protected by an approved air-gap separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly on each service to the premises.

5. 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 separation or an approved reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly on each service to the premises.

6. In the case of a new connection, the type of devices shall be as follows:

AG—Approved Air Gap (all piping visible between meter and receiving tank with no tees, etc.)

RP—Approved reduced pressure principle backflow preventive device.

DC—Approved double check valve assembly backflow preventive device.

NOTE: Whenever a service includes a combination of the above usages, the usage with the most restrictive device shall control. An air gap is the most restrictive, and a double check is the least restrictive device.

E. Any backflow prevention assembly required herein shall be a model and size approved by the city engineer. The term "approved backflow prevention assembly" shall mean an assembly that has been manufactured in full conformance with the standards established by the American Water Works Association title:

AWWA C506-84 Standards for Reduced Pressure Principle and Double Check Valve Backflow Prevention Devices;

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 established by Specifications of Backflow Prevention Assemblies—Section 10 of the most current issue of the Manual of Cross-Connection Control.

Said AWWA and FCC&HR standards and specifications have been adopted by the city. Final approval shall be evidenced by a "certificate of approval" issued by an approved testing laboratory certifying full compliance with the said AWWA standards and FCC&HR specifications.

The following testing laboratory has been accepted by the city to test and certify backflow preventers:

Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research University of Southern California University Park Los Angeles, California 90089-0231

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

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 qualification.

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

G. 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 inspection and maintenance requirements under Subsection 13.10.040F, be excluded from the requirements of these rules so long as the city engineer is assured that they will satisfactorily protect the utility system. Whenever the existing device is moved from the present location or requires more than minimum maintenance or when the city engineer 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.

(Ord. 908 (part), 1990).

If any part of the consumer's installation shall at any time in the opinion of the city be inadequate or unsafe, the city shall have the right, to be exercised at its option, to cease delivering water until the consumer shall put such installation in adequate and safe condition. The city does not assume the duty of inspecting the consumer's apparatus, appliances, or equipment, or any part thereof, except as specified in this article for cross-connection control devices, and assumes no liability therefor. In the event the water service to the consumer is defective, the consumer shall immediately notify the city of said fact.

(Ord. 908 (part), 1990).

The city engineer, his designated representative, or the water division representatives shall, at all times, have the right of ingress to and egress from the consumer's premises at all reasonable hours for any and all purposes reasonably connected with the furnishing of water, and the exercise of any and all rights secured to it by law or these rules and regulations.

(Ord. 908 (part), 1990).