The purpose of this article is:
(1) 
To protect the public potable water supply of the city, from the possibility of contamination or pollution by isolating within the customer's internal distribution system(s) such contaminants and pollutants that could backflow into the public water system;
(2) 
To promote the elimination or control of existing cross-connections, actual or potential, between the customer's in-plant potable water system(s) and non-potable water systems, plumbing fixtures, and industrial piping systems;
(3) 
To provide for the maintenance of a continuing program of cross-connection control that will systematically and effectively prevent the contamination or pollution of all potable water systems; and
(4) 
To comply with the state commission on environmental quality (TCEQ) rules and regulations for public water systems as hereinafter revised or amended (or any successor agency of the TCEQ).
(Ordinance 766 adopted 7/15/2024)
If a word or term used in this article is not contained in the following list, its definition, or other technical terms used, shall have the meanings or definitions listed in the most recently adopted edition of the city plumbing code and/or the Manual of Cross-Connection Control published by the Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research, University of Southern California. For the purpose of this article, the following definitions apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
Approved.
Accepted by the authority responsible as meeting an applicable specification stated or cited in this article or as suitable for the proposed use.
Auxiliary water supply.
Any water supply on or available to the premises other than the purveyor's approved public 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, and so forth; 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.
Backflow.
The undesirable reversal of flow in a potable water distribution system as a result of a cross-connection.
Backflow preventer.
An assembly or means designed to prevent backflow.
(1) 
Air gap. The unobstructed vertical distance through the free atmosphere between the lowest opening from any pipe or faucet conveying water or waste to a tank, plumbing fixture, receptor, or other assembly and the flood level rim of the receptacle. These vertical, physical separations must be at least twice the diameter of the water supply outlet, never less than 1 inch (25 mm).
(2) 
Double check valve assembly. The approved double check valve assembly consists of two internally loaded check valves, either spring loaded or internally weighted, installed as a unit between two tightly closing resilient-seated shutoff valves and fittings with properly located resilient-seated test cocks. This assembly shall only be used to protect against a non-health hazard (that is, a pollutant).
(3) 
Reduced-pressure backflow-prevention assembly. The approved reduced-pressure principle backflow-prevention assembly consists of two independently acting approved check valves together with a hydraulically operating mechanically independent pressure differential relief valve located between the check valves and below the first check valve. These units are located between two tightly closing resilient-seated shutoff valves as an assembly and equipped with properly located resilient-seated test cocks.
Backpressure.
A pressure, higher than the supply pressure, caused by a pump, elevated tank, boiler, or any other means that may cause backflow.
Backsiphonage.
Backflow caused by negative or reduced pressure in the supply piping.
City or the city.
The city or representative.
Commission.
The state commission on environmental quality (TCEQ) or its successor agency.
Contamination.
An impairment of a potable water supply by the introduction or admission of any foreign substance that degrades the quality and creates a health hazard.
Cross-connection.
A connection or potential connection between any part of a potable water system and any other environment containing other substances in a manner that, under any circumstances, would allow such substances to enter the potable water system. Other substances may be gases, liquids, or solids, such as chemicals, waste products, steam, water from other sources (potable and non-potable), or any matter that may change the color or add odor to the water.
Cross-connection, controlled.
A connection between a potable water system and a non-potable 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.
Cross-connection control by containment.
The installation of an approved backflow-prevention assembly at the water service connection to any customer's premises, where it is physically and economically unfeasible 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 that cannot be effectively eliminated or controlled at the point of the cross connection.
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. A cross connection or potential cross connection involving any substance that could, if introduced in the potable water supply, cause death, illness, spread disease, or have a high probability of causing such effects.
(2) 
Hazard, non-health. A cross connection or potential cross connection involving any substance that generally would not be a health hazard but would constitute a nuisance or be aesthetically objectionable, if introduced into the potable water supply.
(3) 
Hazard plumbing. A plumbing-type cross connection in a consumer's potable water system that has not been properly protected by an approved air gap or an approved backflow-prevention assembly.
(4) 
Hazard system. 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 that would have a protracted effect on the quality of the potable water in the system.
Industrial fluids system.
Any system containing a fluid or solution that may be chemically, biologically, or otherwise contaminated or polluted in a form or concentration such as would constitute a health, system, pollution 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 that may have deteriorated in sanitary quality; chemicals in fluid form; plating acids and alkalinities; circulating cooling waters 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 wells, springs, streams, rivers, irrigation canals or systems, and so forth; oils, greases, gases, glycerin, paraffin, caustic and acid solutions, and other liquid and gaseous fluids used in industrial or other purposes for firefighting purposes.
Person.
Any individual, partnership, association, corporation, firm, club, trustee, receiver, and bodies politic and corporate.
Pollution.
The presence of any foreign substance in water that tends to degrade its quality so as to constitute a non-health hazard or impair the usefulness of the water.
Service connection.
The terminal end of a service connection from the public potable water system; that is, 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 backflow-prevention assembly located at the point of delivery to the customer's water system. Service connection shall also include water service connections from the public potable water system.
State regulatory agency.
The state commission on environmental quality (TCEQ) or its successor agency.
Water, non-potable.
Water that is not safe for human consumption or that is of questionable quality.
Water, potable.
Water that is safe for human consumption as described by the public health authority having jurisdiction.
Water, used.
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.
Water utilities superintendent.
The person in charge of the water distribution department of the city or his/her designated representative who 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 article.
(Ordinance 766 adopted 7/15/2024)
(a) 
Water system.
(1) 
The water system shall be considered as made up of two parts: the utility system and the customer system.
(2) 
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.
(3) 
The source shall include all components of the facilities utilized in the production, treatment, storage, and delivery of water to the distribution system.
(4) 
The distribution system shall include the network of conduits used for the delivery of water from the source to the customer's system.
(5) 
The customer's system shall include those parts of the facilities beyond the termination of the utility distribution system that are utilized in conveying utility-delivered domestic water to points of use.
(b) 
Policy.
(1) 
No water service connection to any premises shall be installed or maintained by the water purveyor unless the water supply is protected in accordance with current TCEQ rules and regulations, as amended, and this article. Service of water to any premises shall be discontinued by the water purveyor if a backflow-prevention assembly required by this article is not installed, tested, and maintained, or if it is found that a backflow-prevention assembly has been removed, bypassed, or if an unprotected cross connection exists on the premises. Service will not be restored until such conditions or defects are corrected.
(2) 
The customer's system should be open for inspection at all reasonable times to authorized representatives of the city to determine whether cross connections or other structural or sanitary hazards, including violations of these regulations, exist. When such a condition becomes known, the water utilities superintendent 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 state and city statutes and ordinances relating to plumbing and water supplies and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
(3) 
An approved backflow-prevention assembly shall 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:
(A) 
In the case of premises having an auxiliary water supply that is not or may not be of safe bacteriological or chemical quality and that is not acceptable as an additional source by the water utilities superintendent, 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.
(B) 
In the case of premises on which any industrial fluids or any other objectionable substances are 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 that have been subject to deterioration in quality.
(C) 
In the case of premises having: (i) internal cross connections that cannot be permanently corrected and controlled; or (ii) 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) 
The type of protective assembly required under subsections (b)(3)(A), (b)(3)(B) and (b)(3)(C) shall depend upon the degree of hazard that exists as follows:
(A) 
In the case of any premises where there is an auxiliary water supply as stated in subsection (b)(3)(A) 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.
(B) 
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.
(C) 
In the case of any premises where there is any material dangerous to health that 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 air-gap separation or an approved reduced-pressure-principle backflow-prevention assembly. Examples of premises where these conditions exist include sewage treatment plants, sewage pumping stations, chemical manufacturing plants, hospitals, mortuaries, and plating plants.
(D) 
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 at the service connection.
(E) 
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.
(F) 
In the case of any premises where, in the opinion of the water utilities superintendent, an undue health threat is posed because of the presence of extremely toxic substances, the water utilities superintendent may require an air gap at the service connection to protect the public water system. This requirement will be at the discretion of the water utilities superintendent and is dependent upon the degree of hazard.
(5) 
Any backflow-prevention assembly required herein shall be a model and size approved by the water utilities superintendent. 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 titled: AWWA C5210-89-Standard for Double Check Valve Backflow-Prevention Assembly, and AWWA C511-89-Standard for Reduced-Pressure Principle Backflow-Prevention Assembly, as amended, and have met completely the latest TCEQ rules and regulations.
Backflow preventers that 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 testing or qualification.
(Ordinance 766 adopted 7/15/2024)
(a) 
The regulatory authority shall inspect and test, or cause to be inspected and tested, all backflow-prevention assemblies in each of the following circumstances:
(1) 
Immediately after installation;
(2) 
Whenever the assembly is moved;
(3) 
A minimum of once a year;
(4) 
Premises that have been vacated and unoccupied for one year, prior to reoccupancy;
(5) 
Immediately after repairs.
(b) 
All assembly testing shall be performed by a state-certified backflow-prevention assembly tester, approved by the regulatory authority.
(c) 
Duly authorized city employees are entitled to enter any public or private property at any reasonable time for the purpose of enforcing this article. Persons and occupants of premises which are provided water service by the city, either directly or indirectly, shall allow the city or their representatives ready access at all reasonable times to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, testing, records examination, or in the performance of any of their duties. Where persons or occupants of premises have security measures in force which would require proper identification and clearance before entry into their premises, the persons and occupants of the premises shall make necessary arrangements with their security guards so that, upon presentation of suitable identification, personnel from the city will be permitted to enter, without delay, for the purposes of performing their specific responsibilities.
(d) 
The city is not liable for damage to a backflow-prevention assembly which may occur during testing.
(e) 
All inspections and testing shall be at the expense of the water user. It is the responsibility of any person who owns or controls property to have all assemblies tested in accordance with this article. Assemblies may be required to be tested more frequently if the regulatory authority deems necessary.
(f) 
The customer-user shall notify the water utilities superintendent in advance when the tests are to be undertaken so that the water utilities superintendent may witness the tests if so desired. Records of such tests, repairs, and overhaul shall be kept and made available to the water utilities superintendent.
(g) 
Defective assemblies shall be repaired, overhauled, or replaced at the expense of the customer-user.
(Ordinance 766 adopted 7/15/2024)
Any reduction in water pressure caused by the installation of a backflow assembly is not the responsibility of the city.
(Ordinance 766 adopted 7/15/2024)
All presently installed backflow-prevention assemblies that do not meet the requirements of this article but were approved assemblies for the purpose described herein at the time of installation and that have been properly maintained shall, except for the inspection and maintenance requirements under section 13.09.004 (testing of assemblies), be excluded from the requirements of these rules so long as the water utilities superintendent is assured that they will satisfactorily protect the utility system. Whenever the existing assembly is moved from the present location, requires more than minimum maintenance, or when the water utilities superintendent 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 article.
(Ordinance 766 adopted 7/15/2024)
(a) 
Violations.
(1) 
A person commits an offense if that person fails to maintain backflow-prevention assemblies in compliance with this article.
(2) 
A person commits an offense if that person fails to comply with a repair order issued by the regulatory authority.
(3) 
A person commits an offense if backflow from premises the person owns, operates or manages enters the public water system.
(4) 
A person commits an offense if the person fails to pay any fees required by this article.
(5) 
A person commits an offense if the person violates any section of this article.
(6) 
A person commits an offense if the person reinstates water service to premises discontinued or disconnected under this article, except as directed by the regulatory authority.
(7) 
A person in charge of any facility commits an offense if that person allows an uncertified tester to perform testing work at the establishment.
(8) 
A person commits an offense if the person tests a backflow-prevention assembly within the city without being a duly certified tester by the TCEQ or its successor agency.
(b) 
Penalty.
(1) 
A person who violates any provision of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is punishable as set forth in section 1.01.009 of this code for each act of violation and for each day or part of a day during which the violation is committed, continued or permitted.
(2) 
In addition to proceeding under the authority of subsection (b)(1) above, the city is entitled to pursue all other criminal and civil remedies to which it is entitled under authority of statutes or other ordinances against a person committing any violation of this article.
(Ordinance 766 adopted 7/15/2024)