No water service connection shall be made to any establishment where a potential or actual contamination hazard exists unless the water supply is protected in accordance with the state commission on environmental quality rules and regulations for public water systems (TCEQ rules) and this division. Prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, a complete test and maintenance report of a testable prevention assembly shall be submitted to the city. The city shall discontinue water service if a required backflow prevention assembly is not installed, maintained and tested in accordance with the TCEQ rules and this division.
(1987 Code, sec. 5-135(a))
(a) 
All backflow prevention assemblies shall be tested upon installation by a recognized backflow prevention assembly tester and certified to be operating within specifications. Backflow prevention assemblies which are installed to provide protection against health hazards must also be tested and certified to be operating within specifications at least annually by a recognized backflow prevention assembly tester at the customer’s expense. It shall be the duty of the customer at any premises where backflow prevention devices are installed to have certified inspections and operational tests conducted annually.
(b) 
All backflow prevention assemblies shall be installed and tested in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, the American Water Works Association’s Recommended Practice for Backflow Prevention and Cross-Connection Control (Manual M14) or the University of Southern California Manual of Cross-Connection Control.
(c) 
Assemblies shall be repaired, overhauled, or replaced at the expense of the customer whenever said assemblies are found to be defective. Original forms of such test, repairs and overhaul shall be kept and submitted to the city within five (5) working days of the test, repair of overhaul of each backflow prevention assembly.
(d) 
No backflow prevention assembly or device shall be removed from use, relocated, or other assembly or device substituted without the approval of the city. Whenever the existing assembly or device is moved from the present location or cannot be repaired, the backflow assembly or device shall be replaced with a backflow prevention assembly or device that complies with this division, the American Water Works Association’s Recommended Practice for Backflow Prevention and Cross-Connection Control (Manual M14), current edition, the University of Southern California Manual of Cross-Connection Control, current edition, or the current plumbing code of the city, whichever is more stringent.
(e) 
Test gauges used for backflow prevention assembly testing shall be tested for accuracy at least annually in accordance with the American Water Works Association’s Recommended Practice for Backflow Prevention and Cross-Connection Control (Manual M14), current edition, or the University of Southern California’s Manual of Cross-Connection Control, current edition. The original calibration form must be submitted to the city within five (5) working days after calibration.
(f) 
A recognized backflow prevention assembly tester must hold a current endorsement or registration from the state commission on environmental quality (commission) or any successor agency, a copy of which current endorsement or registration shall be attached to any complete test or maintenance report of a testable prevention assembly that is installed, relocated, repaired, overhauled, tested or replaced.
(g) 
The customer is responsible for general maintenance and upkeep of an approved backflow prevention assembly. Where an owner of property leases or rents the same to any person as tenant or lessee, the owner or tenant, or both, may be held responsible by the city for maintenance.
(h) 
The city shall conduct a cross-connection survey of the customer’s potable water system before providing service and periodically thereafter to prevent cross-connections between the customer’s potable water system and contamination or pollution sources. Periodic efforts shall be made to locate possible cross-connections between the customer’s potable water systems and the public potable water supply. Unprotected cross-connections shall be located and eliminated by the customer to prevent contamination within either potable water supply system
(1987 Code, sec. 5-135(b))
(a) 
A customer service inspection shall be completed at the customer’s expense prior to providing continuous water service to all new construction or any existing service when the city has reason to believe that cross-connections or other contaminant hazards exist, or after any material improvement, correction, or addition to the private water distribution facilities.
(b) 
Only individuals with the following credentials shall be recognized as capable of conducting a customer service inspection:
(1) 
Plumbing inspectors and water supply protection specialists who have been licensed by the state board of plumbing examiners.
(2) 
Certified waterworks operators and members of other water-related professional groups who have completed a training course, passed an examination administered by the commission or its designated agent, and hold a current endorsement issued by the commission.
(c) 
The customer service inspection must certify that:
(1) 
No direct connection between the public drinking water supply and a potential source of contamination exists. Potential sources of contamination shall be isolated from the public water system by a properly installed air gap or an appropriate backflow protection assembly.
(2) 
No cross-connection between the public water supply and a private water source exists. Where an actual properly installed air gap is not maintained between the public water supply and a private water supply, an approved reduced pressure-zone backflow prevention assembly is properly installed and a service agreement exists for annual inspection and testing by a recognized backflow prevention assembly tester.
(3) 
No connection exists which allows water to be returned to the public drinking water supply.
(4) 
No pipe or pipe fitting which contains more than eight (8) percent lead has been used for the installation or repair of plumbing at any connection that provides water for human use.
(5) 
No solder or flux that contains more than 0.2% lead has been used for the installation or repair of plumbing at any connection that provides water for human use. A minimum of one lead test shall be performed for each inspection.
(1987 Code, sec. 5-135(c))
(a) 
The utilities manager of the city and the city attorney, and each of them, are hereby authorized to enforce the provisions of this division by any one of the enforcement mechanisms set forth in this division.
(b) 
The inspectors, agents or representatives of the city charged with enforcement of this division shall be deemed to be performing a governmental function for the benefit of the general public, and neither the city, the utilities manager nor the individual inspector, agent or representative of the city engaged in inspection or enforcement activities under this division, when acting in good faith and without malice, shall ever be held liable for any loss or damage, whether real or asserted, caused or alleged to have been caused as a result of the performance of such governmental function.
(c) 
As a condition of the city providing water service, directly or indirectly, to property, whether within or outside the corporate limits of the city, and as a condition of the connection to the public potable water system by customers under this section, any authorized officer or employee of the city may enter, inspect, monitor, or conduct enforcement activities with respect to any part of the public or private potable water system servicing such premises, shall have a right to enter without delay to, upon, or through any premises to gain access to a cross-connection, backflow prevention assembly or piping, and without limitation may inspect any customer’s potable water system or piping or records pertinent thereto, required under this division or rules and regulations of any governmental entity with whom the city may have an interlocal agreement for the provision of wholesale water services. This right of entry shall extend to public streets, easements, and private property within which any portion of the public or private potable water system servicing such premises may be located.
(d) 
The customer connected to the public potable water system shall make all necessary arrangements, at its sole expense, to remove without delay security barriers or other obstacles to access by the utilities manager or his designee.
(e) 
Obstruction or unreasonable delay in allowing access by the utilities manager or his designee to premises connected to the public potable water system shall constitute a violation of this division.
(f) 
If the utilities manager has been refused access to a building, structure, or property or any private potable water system connected to the public potable water system and if the utilities manager has demonstrated probable cause to believe that a violation of this division, a plumbing permit, or other order issued hereunder exists or that there is a need to inspect as part of the city’s routine inspection program designed to verify compliance with this division or any permit or order issued hereunder, or to protect the overall health, safety and welfare of the community, then upon application by the utilities manager, a judge of the municipal court shall issue a search and/or seizure warrant describing therein the specific location subject to search and the property or items subject to seizure. Such warrant shall be served at reasonable hours in the company of a uniformed police officer. In the event of any emergency affecting public health and safety, such inspection shall be made without the necessity of a warrant.
(g) 
Whenever the utilities manager or his designee determines that any person has violated or is violating this division, a plumbing permit, installation requirements of a backflow prevention assembly under this division, or any other cross-connection requirement, the utilities manager or his designee may, but shall not be required to, serve upon said person a written notice of violation (NOV) describing the violation and the action required to correct the same. Such NOV shall inform the recipient that within five (5) calendar days of receipt thereof the person receiving the same shall provide the utilities manager an explanation of the violation and a plan for the satisfactory correction and prevention thereof, to include specific actions for correction of the violation; provided, however, that:
(1) 
Submission of the proposed corrective action shall in no form or manner relieve the user of criminal or civil liability for violations of this division whether before or after receipt of the NOV;
(2) 
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit the authority of the utilities manager to pursue other enforcement actions or remedies, including, without limitation, such emergency actions the utilities manager determines to be necessary, without first issuing a NOV.
(h) 
A person who violates any provision of this division is violating a city ordinance that governs health and sanitation and shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor for each day or portion thereof during which the violation is continued. Each such offense is punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00.
(i) 
A culpable mental state is required to prove a criminal offense under this division.
(j) 
The city attorney is hereby authorized to enforce this division by civil court actions in accordance with the procedures therefor provided by state or federal law, including, without limitation, actions for injunction, damages, declaratory relief or other remedies that the city attorney shall deem appropriate to pursue.
(k) 
Notwithstanding the provisions of this division, if:
(1) 
A person has received actual notice of the provisions of this division; and
(2) 
After the person received notice of the provisions of this division, such person committed or continued acts in violation of this division or failed to take action necessary for compliance with this division,
the city attorney may institute suit against the owner, occupant or manager of premises that are in violation of this division, to recover a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000.00 per day for each such violation. Each day or fraction thereof that such noncompliance continues shall constitute a separate violation for which civil penalties shall accrue under this division. Water service may be discontinued if violations are not corrected within five (5) days of notification by the utilities manager or his designee. Services discontinued under such circumstances shall be restored only upon the payment of a reconnection charge, hereby established at $100.00, and any other cost incurred by the city in discontinuing service. A suit for civil penalties hereunder shall not prevent nor be a prerequisite for taking any other action against a person in violation of this division. Such suit may also include therein a request for such other and further relief as the city attorney shall deem advisable, including, without limitation, an action for injunction or claim for damages to recover expenses, loss or damage to city property occasioned by reason of such /violation.
(l) 
All remedies authorized under this division are cumulative of all others unless otherwise expressly provided. Accordingly, the filing of a criminal action shall not preclude the pursuit of a civil or administrative action for violation of this division, nor shall the filing of a civil action preclude the pursuit of any other action or remedy, administrative or criminal.
(m) 
A person is responsible for a violation of this division if:
(1) 
The person commits or assists in the commission of a violation; or
(2) 
The person is the owner, occupant, or manager of the property or facilities determined to be the source of a violation of this division.
(n) 
Where an owner of property leases or rents the same to any person as tenant or lessee, the owner or tenant or both may be held responsible by the utilities manager or his designee for noncompliance with the provisions of this division.
(o) 
Any person violating the provisions of this division shall be liable to the city for all expenses, loss, or damage incurred by the city by reason of such violation.
(p) 
The utilities manager may require submittal of complete test and maintenance reports to the utilities department of any testable backflow prevention device installed prior to the final release of water or wastewater inspections [connections]. Failure to secure final release of water or wastewater connections shall result in placement of a hold on the issuance of the certificate of occupancy for the utilities department.
(q) 
The utilities manager shall be authorized under this division to inspect any premises, real property or building connected to the public potable water system. Inspections shall include, without limitation, a survey of such premises, real property or building for determination of cross-connections or assemblies by a certified backflow prevention assembly technician or inspection and/or certification of any backflow prevention assembly.
(1987 Code, sec. 5-135(d))