Chapter 121 Water Cross-Connection Control

Protect the public potable water supply served by the Bedford Consolidated Water District and any and all water districts within the town, hereinafter referred to as the "districts," from the possibility of contamination or pollutants which could backflow or back-siphon into the public water system.

Promote the elimination or control of existing cross-connections, actual or potential, between their customer's in-plant potable water system, and nonpotable systems.

Provide for the maintenance of a continuing program of cross-connection control which will effectively prevent the contamination or pollution of all potable water systems by cross-connection.

§ 121-2 Authority.

Pursuant to the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 and statutes promulgated in Article 2 of the Public Health Law and in Chapter I, Section 5-1.31, of the State Sanitary Code (10 NYCRR 1 et seq.), the New York State Department of Health has undertaken a program for preventing water from unapproved sources from entering the public potable water system. Subpart 5-1 of the State Sanitary Code, Section 5-1.32, requires that the supplier of all public water shall protect the public water system by containing potential contamination within the premises of each individual water user.

§ 121-3 Responsibility of districts.

The districts shall be responsible for the protection of the public potable water distribution system from contamination or pollution due to the backflow or back-siphon of contaminants or pollutants through the water service connection and any other piping system within the premises. If, in the judgment of the district, an approved backflow device is required at the town's water service connection to any customer's premises, the district or its delegated agent shall give notice in writing to said customer to install an approved backflow prevention device at each service connection to said premises. The customer shall, within ninety (90) days, install such approved device, or devices, at his own expense, and failure or refusal or inability on the part of the customer to install said device or devices within ninety (90) days shall constitute grounds for discontinuing water service until such device or devices have been properly installed. Hazardous conditions shall be addressed immediately.

The following measures shall be required by each water user based on the potential hazard to the public water supply system:

An approved backflow prevention device such as air gap, reduced pressure zone device, double check valve assembly or approved equivalent protective device shall be installed in potential backflow conditions depending on the degree of hazard posed by service connection.

Users shall submit an application on a form approved by the State of New York Department of Health and plans for the installation of protective devices to the district for approval.

ATMOSPHERIC VACUUM BREAKER

All protective devices shall be tested initially and at least annually thereafter. Such tests shall be conducted by certified backflow prevention device testers. Testers shall meet the requirements listed in § 121-14, Certified testers.

§ 121-4 Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

AIR GAP

A physical separation sufficient to prevent backflow between the free flowing discharge end of the potable water system and any other system; physically defined as a distance equal to twice the diameter of the supply side pipe diameter but never less than one (1) inch.

APPROVED

Accepted by the Bedford Consolidated Water District or any water district within the town, meeting applicable specifications stated or cited in this regulation, or as suitable for the proposed use.

A device which prevents backsiphonage by creating an atmospheric vent when there is either a negative pressure or sub-atmospheric pressure in a water system.

AUXILIARY WATER SUPPLY

Any water supply on or available to the premises other than the purveyor's approved public potable water supply.

BACKFLOW

The flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances and/or positive or reduced pressure in the distribution pipes of a potable water supply from any source other than its intended source.

BACKFLOW PREVENTER

A device or means designed to prevent backflow or backsiphonage. Most commonly categorized as air gap, reduced pressure principle device, double check valve assembly, pressure vacuum breaker, atmospheric vacuum breaker, hose Bibb vacuum breaker, residential dual check, double check with intermediate atmospheric vent, and barometric loop.

BACK PRESSURE

A condition in which the owner's system pressure is greater than the supplier's system pressure.

BACK-SIPHON

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

BAROMETRIC LOOP

A fabricated piping arrangement rising at least thirty-five (35) feet at its topmost point above the highest fixture it supplies. It is utilized in water supply systems to protect against backsiphonage.

CONTAINMENT

A method of backflow prevention which requires a backflow prevention device at the water service entrance immediately after the water meter or, in the event of no meter, immediately after the point of entry.

CONTAMINANT

Any physical, chemical, microbiological or radiological substance or matter in water.

CROSS-CONNECTION

Any actual or potential connection between the public water supply and a source of contamination or pollution.

DEPARTMENT

Bedford Consolidated Water District or any water district within the town.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

The State of New York Health Department and its agent, the Westchester County Department of Health.

DOUBLE CHECK VALVE ASSEMBLY (DCV)

An assembly of two (2) independently operating spring-loaded check valves with tightly closing shutoff valves on each side of the check valves, plus properly located test cocks for the testing of each check valve.

DOUBLE-CHECK VALVE WITH INTERMEDIATE ATMOSPHERIC VENT

A device having two (2) spring-loaded check valves separated by an atmospheric vent chamber.

FIXTURE ISOLATION

A method of backflow prevention in which a backflow preventer is located to correct a cross-connection at an in-plant location rather than at a water service entrance.

HOSE BIBB VACUUM BREAKER

A device which is permanently attached to a hose Bibb and which acts as an atmospheric vacuum breaker.

OWNER

Any person who has a legal title to or license to operate or habitat in a property upon which a cross-connection is present.

PERMIT

A document issued by the Department which allows the use of a backflow preventer. A permit to construct and a completed works permit is also required from the State of New York Department of Health.

PERSON

Any individual, partnership, company, public or private corporation, political subdivision or agency of the State Department, agency or instrumentality of the United States or any other legal entity.

POLLUTANT

A foreign substance that, if permitted to get into the public water system, will degrade its quality so as to constitute a moderate 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 water for domestic use.

PRESSURE VACUUM BREAKER

A device containing one (1) or two (2) independently operated spring-loaded check valves and an independently operated spring-loaded air inlet valve located on the discharge side of the check or checks. Such device includes tightly closing shutoff valves on each side of the check valves and properly located test cocks for the testing of the check valves.

REDUCED-PRESSURE-PRINCIPLE BACKFLOW PREVENTER (RPZ)

An assembly consisting of two (2) independently operating approved check valves with an automatically operating differential relief valve located between two (2) check valves, tightly closing shutoff valves on each side of the check valves, plus properly located test cocks for the testing of the check valves and the relief valve.

WATER SERVICE ENTRANCE

The point in the owner's water system beyond the sanitary control of the districts; generally considered to the outlet end of the water meter and always before any unprotected branch.

§ 121-5 Enforcement.

The Town Engineer, or his delegated representative in charge of the Bedford Consolidated Water District, is invested with the authority and responsibility for the implementation of a cross-connection control program and for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.

§ 121-6 Administration.

The Department will operate a cross-connection control program to include the keeping of necessary records, which fulfills the requirements of the Department of Health's cross-connection regulations and testing of backflow prevention equipment.

The owners shall allow their property to be inspected for possible cross-connections and shall follow the provisions of the Department's program and the Department of Health if a cross-connection is permitted.

If the Department requires that the public supply be protected by containment, the owners shall be responsible for water quality beyond the outlet end of the containment device and should utilize fixture outlet protection for that purpose.

The owner shall be responsible to have a currently licensed New York State engineer certify that the installation is in accordance with the approved plans and a certification from an approved tester that the installation is working as designed and approved. Certifications shall be provided on New York State Department of Health approved forms.

§ 121-7 Requirements.

Department.

The Department will not allow any cross-connection to remain unless it is protected by an approved backflow preventer for which a permit has been issued and which will be regularly tested to insure satisfactory operation. On new installations, the Department will provide on-site evaluation and/or review of plans in order to determine the type of backflow preventer, if any, that will be required. Plans shall be signed and sealed by a currently licensed New York State professional engineer. The owner, after receiving approval of the backflow prevention device from the Department, shall submit an application to State of New York Department of Health to obtain a permit to construct. The work shall be completed within ninety (90) days from receipt of the permit to construct issuance. After completion of installation of the backflow prevention device, the owner shall apply for a completed works permit by submitting to the State of New York Health Department a certification from the engineer which states that the installation of the work is in compliance with the approved plans. The owner shall also submit a certification from an approved tester of backflow prevention devices that the installation was tested and is working as designed and approved and in accordance with the intent of these regulations.

For premises existing prior to the start of this program, the Department will perform evaluations and review of plans and/or inspection of premises and inform the owner by letter of any corrective action deemed necessary, the method of achieving the correction and the time allowed for the correction to be made. Ordinarily, ninety (90) days will be allowed; however, this time period may be shortened by the Department depending upon the degree of hazard involved and the history of the device(s) in question.

The Department shall inform the owners, by letter, of any failure to comply by the time of the first reinspection. The Department will allow an additional fifteen (15) days for the correction. In the event that the owners fail to comply with the necessary correction by the time of the second reinspection, the Department will inform the owners, by letter, that the water service to the owners' premises will be terminated within a period not to exceed five (5) days. In the event that the owners inform the Department of extenuating circumstances as to why the correction has not been made, a time extension may be granted by the Department but in no case will exceed an additional thirty (30) days.

If the Department determines at any time that a serious threat to the public health exists, the water service will be terminated immediately. If the Department determines that terminating water service is not feasible, the owner will be subject to fines listed in another section of this chapter.

(5)

The Department shall have on file a list of private contractors who are certified backflow device testers. The owner is responsible for all costs associated with the installation of backflow prevention devices.

(6)

The Department will begin initial premises inspections to determine the nature of existing or potential hazards following the approval of this program by the Town Board of the Town of Bedford. Initial focus will be on high-hazard industries and commercial premises.

Owners.

The owners shall be responsible for the elimination or protection of all cross-connections on their premises.

The owners, after having been informed by a letter from the Department, shall at their expense install, maintain, and test, or have tested, any and all backflow preventers on their premises.

The owners shall correct any malfunction of the backflow preventer which is revealed by periodic testing.

The owners shall inform the Department of any proposed or modified cross-connections of which the owners are aware but have not been found by the Department.

(5)

The owners shall not install a bypass around any backflow preventer unless there is a backflow preventer of the same type on the bypass. Owners who cannot shut down operation for testing of the device(s) must supply additional devices necessary to allow testing to take place.

(6)

The owners shall install backflow preventers in a manner approved by the Department.

(7)

The owners shall install only backflow preventers which are shown on a State of New York Department of Health list of approved backflow prevention devices.

(8)

Any owners having a private well or other private water source must have a permit if the well or source is cross-connected to the Department's system. Permission to cross-connect may be denied by the Department. The owner may be required to install a backflow preventer at the service entrance if a private water source is maintained, even if it is not cross-connected to the Department's system.

(9)

In the event that the owners install plumbing to provide potable water for domestic purposes which is on the Department's side of the backflow preventer, such plumbing must have its own backflow preventer installed.

(10)

The owners shall be responsible for the payment of all permit fees, penalties, annual or semiannual device testing, retesting in the case that the device fails to operate correctly, and second reinspections for noncompliance with Department and/or Department of Health requirements.

§ 121-8 Degree of hazard.

The Department recognizes the threat to the public water system arising from cross-connections. All threats will be classified by degree of hazard and will require the installation of approved reduced-pressure-principle backflow prevention devices (RPZ) or double check valves (DCV).

To achieve containment, an acceptable backflow prevention device must be installed in every service connection to a facility.

The degree of hazard shall be determined by the Department by the use of guidelines in the public water supply guide "Cross Connection Control Manual," published by the New York State Department of Health, dated 1981, or any revisions or amendments thereto.

Three (3) categories will be considered when determining the degree of hazard posed by a facility and making subsequent determinations of the type of protective device required. They are:

Use, toxicity and availability of contaminants.

Availability of a supplementary supply of water.

§ 121-10 Existing in-use backflow prevention devices.

Fire-fighting system evaluation.

Based on degree of hazard determinations, a facility will be rated as either hazardous, aesthetically objectionable, or nonhazardous.

A hazardous facility must be contained through the use of an RPZ or an air gap.

An aesthetically objectionable facility must be contained through the use of a DCV.

Hazardous, aesthetically objectionable and nonhazardous rated facilities should be protected through an internal plumbing control program to ensure that plumbing cross-connections inside a facility are adequately protected or eliminated. The internal control program will be the coordinated effort between the Department and the Town of Bedford's Building Department to eliminate all existing internal cross-connection and prevent future cross-connections.

It is not possible to list every circumstance and facility type that may be encountered by the Department while evaluating all users. The Department, while evaluating a facility, will rely on experience, assistance from local Health Department officials and the Cross Connection Control Program Manual.

Hazardous facilities. The following partial listing gives examples of the types of facilities which will require an acceptable RPZ or air gap to be installed in the service connection to the public water distribution system.

	Type of Facility	Potential Hazard
	Sewage and industrial wastewater treatment plants and pumping stations, sewer flushers, etc.	Sewage and industrial wastewater, contaminated water, toxic chemicals, etc.
	Paper manufacturing or processing, dye plants, petroleum processing, printing plants, chemical manufacturing or processing, industrial fluid systems, steam generation, rubber processing, tanneries	Toxic chemicals, water conditioning compounds. Examples: toxic dyes, acids, alkalis, solvents, quaternary ammonia compounds, mercury, chromium, etc.
	Canneries, breweries, food processing, milk processing, ice manufacturing, meat packers, poultry processing, rendering companies, etc.	Process wastewater, steam, detergents, acids, caustics, refrigeration lines
	Hospitals, clinics, laboratories veterinary hospitals, mortuaries, embalmers, etc.	Bacterial cultures, laboratory solutions, blood and tissue waste, toxic materials, etc.
	Shipyards, marinas, etc.	Sea water, sewage, contaminated water, etc.
	Metal-plating, photo processing, laundries, commercial car washes, commercial refrigeration systems, dry cleaning establishments, etc.	Toxic chemicals, concentrated cleaning agents, solvents, etc. Examples: cyanides, fluorides, copper, chromium, caustic and acid solutions, etc.
	Type of Facility	Potential Hazard
	Commercial greenhouses, spraying and irrigation systems using weedicides, herbicides, exterminators	Toxic chemicals. Examples: ammonium salts, phosphates, 2,4 disodium arsenide, lindane, Malathion, etc.
	Boiler systems, cooling towers or internal fire-fighting systems using conditioners, inhibitors, corrosion control chemicals, etc. Typically: apartment buildings, cooling towers, warehouses	Toxic chemicals. Examples: hydrazine, sodium compounds, antifreeze solutions, etc.

Aesthetically objectionable facilities. The following partial listings are examples of the types of facilities which will require an acceptable DCV to be installed in the service connection to the public water distribution system:

	Type of Facility	Potential Hazard
	Customer fire protection loops, fire storage tanks, with no chemical additives	Stagnant water, objectionable tastes, odors.
	High-temperature potable water	Objectionable temperatures
	Utilization of good grade dyes	Objectionable color
	Complex plumbing systems in commercial buildings. Typically: barbershops, beauty salons, churches, apartment buildings, gas stations, supermarkets, nursing homes, construction sites, carnivals	Plumbing errors, obsolete plumbing equipment, poor plumbing inspection/correction programs

Nonhazardous facilities. The containment approach does not apply. The following partial listing indicates the type of facility that would qualify:

	Type of Facility	Potential Hazard
	Private homes	None; rely on internal plumbing control
	Dry commercial establishments without complex plumbing systems	None; rely on internal plumbing control

§ 121-9 Permits.

The Department shall not permit a cross-connection within the public water supply system unless it is considered necessary, and it cannot be eliminated.

Application fees are required by the Department to administer this program. A schedule of fees are attached to those regulations that list initial and renewal items for permits required under these regulations.

Permits shall be renewed every year and are nontransferable. Permits are subject to revocation and become immediately revoked if the owner should so change the type of cross-connection or degree of hazard associated with the service.

A permit is not required when fixture isolation is achieved with the utilization of a nontestable backflow preventer.

Any existing backflow preventer shall be allowed by the Department to continue in service unless the degree of hazard is such as to supersede the effectiveness of the present backflow preventer, or result in an unreasonable risk to the public health. Where the degree of hazard has increased, as in the case of a residential installation converting to a business establishment, any existing backflow preventer must be upgraded to a reduced-pressure-principle device, or a reduced-pressure-principle device must be installed in the event that no backflow device was present.

§ 121-11 Periodic testing.

Reduced-pressure-principle backflow devices shall be tested and inspected as required.

Periodic testing shall be performed by the owner's certified tester and results forwarded to the Department. This testing will be done at the owner's sole expense.

Any backflow preventer which fails during a periodic test will be repaired or replaced. When repairs are necessary, upon completion of the repair, the device will be retested at the owner's expense to ensure correct operation. High-hazard situations will not be allowed to continue unprotected if the backflow preventer fails the test and cannot be repaired immediately. In other situations, a compliance date of not more than thirty (30) days after the test date will be established. The owners are responsible for spare parts, repair tools or a replacement device. Parallel installation of two (2) devices is an effective means of the owners' insuring that uninterrupted water service during testing or repair of devices and is strongly recommended when the owners desire such continuity.

Backflow prevention devices will be tested more frequently than specified where there is a history of test failures and the Department feels that, due to the degree of hazard involved, additional testing is warranted. Cost of the additional tests will be borne by the owners.

§ 121-12 Residential dual check assembly.

Effective the date of the acceptance of this cross-connection control program for the Town of Bedford, all new residential buildings will be required to install a residential dual check assembly immediately downstream of the water meter. Installation of this residential dual check assembly on the retrofit basis on existing service lines will be instituted at a time and at a potential cost to the homeowner as deemed necessary by the Department.

The owners must be aware that installation of a residential dual check assembly results in a potential closed plumbing system within the residence. As such, provisions may have to be made by the owners to provide for thermal expansion within the closed loop system, i.e., the installation of thermal expansion devices and/or pressure relief valves.

§ 121-13 Strainers.

The Department strongly recommends that all new retrofit installations of reduced-pressure-principle devices and double check valve backflow preventers include the installation of strainers located immediately upstream of the backflow device. The installation of strainers will preclude the fouling of the backflow devices due to both foreseen and unforeseen circumstances occurring to the water supply system, such as water main repairs, water main breaks, fires, periodic cleaning and flushing of mains, etc. These occurrences may "stir up" debris within the water main that will cause fouling of backflow devices installed without the benefit of strainers.

§ 121-14 Certified testers.

All testers of backflow prevention devices shall be approved by the New York State Department of Health. Prior to performing certification tests in the Town of Bedford, each backflow prevention device tester must demonstrate to the Town Engineer and the Foreman of the Department that he/she is currently authorized to conduct such tests as approved by the Department of Health.

§ 121-15 Records and reports.

Records. The Department will initiate and maintain the following:

Master files on customer cross-connection tests and/or inspections.

Master files on cross-connection permits.

Copies of permits and permit applications.

Copies of lists and summaries supplied to the Department of Health.

Reports. The Department will submit the following to the Department of Health:

Initial listing of low hazard cross-connections.

Initial listing of high hazard cross-connections.

Annual update lists of above two (2) items.