Ontario Municipal Code Art. 3 Protection Requirements

(a) No person is permitted to cause, permit, facilitate or maintain an actual or potential cross-connection or any type of connection that permits an actual or potential backflow of water to the City’s distribution system.

(b) No physical connection shall hereafter exist, or be installed, located, maintained or operated, between the City’s distribution system (including its appurtenant mains, pipes, fixtures, equipment or appliances) and any other water supply system or any sewer or drainage system, or any steam, gas or chemical line, pipe or conduit, or any device, boiler tank or container whereby a contamination or pollution or any dangerous, impure, unsanitary or nonpotable substance (solid, liquid, or gaseous or any combination thereof) may now, or hereafter be introduced into any portion of City’s distribution system by backflow, backsiphonage, or any other method, manner, means, or cause whatsoever.

(c) It is unlawful for any person to make a permanent or temporary connection onto a backflow prevention assembly for the purpose of bypassing the backflow prevention assembly.

(a) No person is permitted to install, maintain, or allow a metered water service connection to any premises served by the City unless the City’s distribution system is protected in conformance with applicable state law or regulation (including the Cross-Connection Control Policy Handbook) and this chapter. Any person who is required to install an approved backflow prevention assembly must install, maintain, inspect and test such assembly in accordance with applicable state law or regulation (including the Cross-Connection Control Policy Handbook) and this chapter at the applicant, owner, or customer’s own expense and within the time specified for installation. Every backflow prevention assembly required by law, regulation, or this chapter must be of model and size approved by the City. Failure, refusal or inability on the part of the applicant, owner, or customer to install said assembly or assemblies constitutes grounds for discontinuing water service to such metered or non-metered water service connections until such assembly or assemblies have been properly installed.

(b) Backflow prevention assemblies shall be installed on the premises, in accordance with the City's standards, before the first branch line leading off the service and not on the City’s portion of the system. Backflow prevention assemblies shall be located as close as practical to the applicant, owner, or customer’s service connection, or at a location approved by the City. Backflow prevention assemblies shall be readily accessible for testing and maintenance and no device shall be submerged at any time.

(c) All backflow prevention assemblies required by this chapter shall be installed in accordance with any and all criteria set forth in Cross- Connection Control Policy Handbook Section 3.3.2.

(d) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the City maintains the right to install, test, and maintain a backflow prevention assembly on premises where water service is provided. The cost thereof shall be borne by the applicant, owner, or customer.

All applicant, owner, or customer systems and premises shall be open for inspection at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the City to enable the City to ascertain the existence of cross-connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of the cross-connection rules and regulations in this chapter. When such a condition becomes known, the City shall deny or discontinue service to the premises, in accordance with this chapter. Water service will be discontinued until the applicant, owner, or customer has corrected the condition(s) in conformance with state laws and City requirements relating to plumbing and water supplies, and with regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

Newly installed and replaced backflow prevention assemblies required in this chapter shall be of models approved by the City. Approved backflow prevention assemblies meet one of the following requirements:

(a) Air-gaps (AG) shall meet the requirements in Table 1, Minimum Air Gaps for Generally used Plumbing Fixtures, page 4 of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) A112.1.2-2012 (R2017).

(b) Double check valve backflow prevention assemblies (DC) and reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assemblies (RP) shall be inspected, tested, and approved under the standards established in the Manual of Cross-Connection Control, published by the Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research, University of Southern California, University Park, Los Angeles, CA, Current Edition.

Backflow protection for the City’s potable water supply shall be provided on each water service connection downstream of the water meter but before the structural dwelling to:

(a) Premises having an auxiliary water supply such as recycled or non-potable water systems;

(b) Premises on which any substance is handled in such fashion that could permit entry into the water system. This shall include the handling of process waters and waters originating from the City’s distribution system that have been subject to deterioration in sanitary quality;

(c) Premises where there is any material dangerous to health which is handled in such a fashion as to create an actual or potential hazard. Examples of premises where actual, or potential, health hazards, or conditions will exist include, but are not limited to, the following: sewage treatment plants, sewage pumping stations, chemical manufacturing plants, hospitals, mortuaries, plating works, etc;

(d) Premises that have pressurized equipment installed;

(e) Premises that have landscape where potable water is used to irrigate;

(f) Premises that have fire protection systems installed;

(g) Premises that have internal cross-connections, unless such cross-connections are abated to the satisfaction of the City and approved by the state or local health agency;

(h) Premises having intricate plumbing and piping arrangements or where not all portions of the premises are readily accessible for inspection purposes;

(i) Premises having a repeated history of cross-connections being established or re-established;

(j) Premises being served water through a temporary above ground water service connection;

(k) Premises having a change in customer (either owner or tenant) on any commercial or industrial premise(s) where a backflow prevention assembly is not installed; the new or previous owner or customer shall notify the City immediately. The City will then reassess the level of protection required. Also, any alterations or improvements to existing onsite facilities that may affect the level of protection required must be reported immediately to the City to be evaluated; and

(l) Premises that meet the definition of high-hazard cross-connection control premise under Appendix D of the Cross-Connection Control Policy Handbook.

(a) The type of protection required on potable water services is related to the degree of hazard that exists on the premises as specified in this chapter and Appendix D of the Cross-Connection Control Policy Handbook.

(b) The type of protective device authorized for potable water services is a reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly (RP). This includes premises that utilize a single potable water service to a dwelling and irrigating landscape.

(c) Premises identified as a high hazard cross-connection control premise shall install a reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly (RP) or air-gap separation (AG), or both. Customers shall comply with any additional requirements or degrees of protection for particular high hazard cross-connections set forth in Appendix D of the Cross-Connection Control Policy Handbook.

(d) Except for low hazard fire protection systems that meet the criteria forth in Cross-Connection Control Policy Handbook Section 3.2.2.(e)(3), fire protection systems shall be protected with either double check detector backflow prevention assembly (DCDA or DCDA-type II) or reduced pressure principle detector backflow prevention assembly (RPDA or RPDA-type II).

(e) Dedicated service for the sole purpose of irrigating landscape with potable water shall be protected with a reduced pressure principle backflow prevention assembly (RP). Pressure vacuum breakers are not allowed to be installed on dedicated irrigation lines.