Chapter 5.15
CROSS-CONNECTION CONTROL PROGRAM
Sections:
5.15.010 Purpose – Applicability.
5.15.040 Prevention of contamination.
5.15.050 Backflow preventer minimum protection.
5.15.010 Purpose – Applicability.
The Board of Commissioners of the District, Snohomish County, Washington, establishes the following water service connection policy to protect the public water supply system from the risk of contamination from consumer water systems. For public health and safety, this policy shall apply equally to all new and existing consumers. [Amended during 2016 codification; Res. 2567, 2010].
5.15.020 Definitions.
“Approved air gap” means a physical separation between the free-flowing end of a potable water supply pipeline and the overflow rim of an open or nonpressurized receiving vessel.
“Approved backflow preventer” means an approved air gap, an approved backflow prevention assembly, or an approved AVB. The terms “approved backflow preventer,” “approved air gap,” or “approved backflow prevention assembly” refer only to those approved backflow preventers relied upon by the purveyor for the protection of the public water system. The requirements of WAC 246-290-490 do not apply to backflow preventers installed for other purposes.
“Approved backflow prevention assembly” means an RPBA, RPDA, DCVA, DCDA, PVBA, or SVBA of make, model, and size that is approved by the Department. Assemblies that appear on the current approved backflow prevention assemblies list developed by the University of Southern California Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research or other entity acceptable to the Department are considered approved by the Department.
“Authority having jurisdiction” (formerly known as “local administrative authority”) means the local official, board, department, or agency authorized to administer and enforce the provisions of the Uniform Plumbing Code as adopted under Chapter 19.27 RCW.
“Backflow” means the undesirable reversal of flow of water or other substances through a cross-connection into the public water system or consumer’s potable water system.
“Board of Commissioners” or “the Board” means those people elected to oversee the affairs of the District.
“Consumer” means any person receiving water from a public water system from either the meter, or the point where the service line connects with the distribution system if no meter is present. For purposes of cross-connection control, “consumer” means the owner or operator of a water system connected to a public water system through a service connection.
“Consumer’s water system,” as used in WAC 246-290-490, means any potable or industrial water system that begins at the point of delivery from the public water system and is located on the consumer’s premises. The consumer’s water system includes all auxiliary sources of supply, storage, treatment, and distribution facilities, piping, plumbing, and fixtures under the control of the consumer.
“Cross-connection” means any actual or potential physical connection between a public water system, or the consumer’s water system, and any source of nonpotable liquid, solid, or gas that could contaminate the potable water supply by backflow.
“Cross-connection control program” means the administrative and technical procedures the purveyor implements to protect the public water system from contamination via cross-connections as required in WAC 246-290-490.
“Cross-connection control specialist” means a person holding a valid CCS certificate issued under Chapter 246-292 WAC.
“Distribution system” means all piping components of a public water system that serve to convey water from transmission mains linked to source, storage and treatment facilities to the consumer excluding individual services.
“Domestic water service connection” means a service hookup to a property that is contiguous to a water distribution main and where additional distribution mains or extensions are not needed to provide service.
“Emergency” means an unforeseen event that causes damage or disrupts normal operations and requires immediate action to protect public health and safety.
“High health cross-connection hazard” means a cross-connection involving any substance that could impair the quality of potable water and create an actual public health hazard through injury, poisoning, or spread of disease.
“In-premises protection” means a method of protecting the health of consumers served by the consumer’s potable water system, located within the property lines of the consumer’s premises by the installation of an approved air gap or backflow prevention assembly at the point of hazard, which is generally a plumbing fixture.
“Potable” means water suitable for drinking by the public.
“Premises isolation” means a method of protecting a public water system by installation of approved air gaps or approved backflow prevention assemblies at or near the service connection, or alternative location acceptable to the purveyor, to isolate the consumer’s water system from the purveyor’s distribution system.
“Public water supply system” shall mean any system providing water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, excluding a system serving only one single-family residence and a system with four or fewer connections, all of which serve residences on the same farm.
“Risk assessment investigation” means on-site inspection of a public water system by the Department or designee to address a potential public health concern, regulatory violation, or consumer complaint.
“Service connection” means a connection to a public water system designed to provide potable water to a single-family residence, or other residential or nonresidential population.
“Severe health cross-connection hazard” means a cross-connection which could impair the quality of potable water and create an immediate, severe public health hazard through poisoning or spread of disease by contaminants from radioactive material processing plants, nuclear reactors, or wastewater treatment plants.
“Source water” means untreated water that is not subject to recontamination by surface runoff.
“Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC)” means the code adopted under RCW 19.27.031(4) and implemented under Chapter 51-56 WAC. This code establishes statewide minimum plumbing standards applicable within the property lines of the consumer’s premises. [Amended during 2016 codification; Res. 2567, 2010].
5.15.030 Abbreviations.
“AG” means air gap.
“AVB” means atmospheric vacuum breaker.
“CCS” means cross-connection control specialist.
“DCDA” means double check detector assembly.
“DCVA” means double check valve assembly.
“DOH” means Department of Health.
“PVBA” means pressure vacuum breaker assembly.
“PWS” means public water system.
“RPBA” means reduced pressure backflow assembly.
“RPDA” means reduced pressure detector assembly.
“SVBA” means spill resistant vacuum breaker assembly.
“WAC” means Washington Administrative Code.
“WQD” means Water Quality Department. [Res. 2567, 2010].
5.15.040 Prevention of contamination.
(1) Purposes. The purposes of the District’s cross-connection control program are to (A) prevent contamination of the District’s water system; and (B) protect the District and its customers by either eliminating the cross-connection or controlling it with the installation of an approved backflow preventer commensurate with the degree of hazard, and to comply with the requirements of WAC 246-290-490.
(2) Consumer Responsibilities. The consumer is responsible for their own water system, which consists of all plumbing located on the consumer’s property, beginning at the downstream end of the service connection or water meter located on the public right-of-way or a District-held easement.
(3) District Obligations. The District is not responsible for eliminating or controlling cross-connections within the consumer’s water system. Pursuant to WAC 246-290-490, the District’s responsibility for cross-connection control begins at the water supply source and includes all the public water treatment, storage, and distribution facilities, and ends at the point of delivery to the consumer’s water system. To prevent contamination of the public water system from cross-connections located on consumers’ property, the District shall implement and promulgate a premises isolation cross-connection control program that includes the criteria listed in AWWDC 5.15.050. This program shall ensure that cross-connections between the distribution system and a consumer’s water system are eliminated or controlled by the installation of an approved backflow preventer commensurate with the degree of hazard as defined in WAC 246-290-010.
(4) Enforcement. The District shall take appropriate corrective action when a cross-connection exists that is not controlled commensurate to the degree of hazard assessed by the District or when a consumer fails to comply with the District’s requirements regarding the installation, inspection, testing, maintenance, repair or replacement of approved backflow preventers required by this chapter.
(A) The District may, among other things:
(i) Require the consumer to install an approved backflow preventer for premises isolation commensurate with the degree of hazard; or
(ii) Install, at the consumer’s expense, an approved backflow preventer for premises isolation commensurate with the degree of hazard; or
(iii) Test the assembly/assemblies at the consumer’s expense. A District employed Washington State certified backflow assembly tester (BAT), or a BAT certified private contractor hired by the District, will not only test but will also perform repair actions if needed – these actions could include replacing the complete assembly if repairs cannot be performed or if parts are not available. The total cost of testing, repairs, assembly replacement, labor, and all associated fees will be added to your water bill for immediate payment; or
(iv) Deny or discontinue water service to a consumer’s premises until the cross-connection hazard is eliminated or controlled to the satisfaction of the District. Except in the event of an emergency, the District shall notify the authority having jurisdiction prior to denying or discontinuing water service to a consumer’s premises for one or more of the reasons listed above.
(B) Upon identification of a cross-connection that is not controlled commensurate to the degree of hazard, the District will notify the customer in writing via regular mail and/or email.
(C) Upon determination that a consumer fails to comply with the District’s requirements regarding the installation, inspection, testing, maintenance or repair of approved backflow preventers, the District will notify the customer in writing via regular mail and/or email.
(D) If, after being notified pursuant to subsections (4)(B) and (C) of this section, the customer fails to correct the deficiency, then the District will give the consumer and the authority having jurisdiction notice by mail substantially in the form of Exhibit A to the resolution codified in this chapter. If the customer still fails to correct the deficiency within 10 days, then the District will exercise one or more of its remedies pursuant to subsection (4)(A) of this section. [Res. 2743 § 2, 2022; amended during 2016 codification; Res. 2567, 2010].
5.15.050 Backflow preventer minimum protection.
(1) All backflow assemblies under the jurisdiction of the District (public water system, or PWS) shall be installed outside the building at a location immediately downstream of the water meter or immediately downstream of the water service connection if no water meter is present, unless an alternate location is approved in writing by the District. Each commercial or multifamily building shall have separate individual backflow assemblies for the domestic and fire service lines, with no joint use between buildings.
(2) Backflow assemblies shall conform to the latest Washington State Department of Health requirements and the current adopted District Development Standards and Specifications.
(3) The following methods of cross-connection control are considered minimum protection:
(A) The public water supply for domestic water service to any premises considered by the District to be multifamily or commercial customer class as defined in the current adopted District Code or Development Standards and Specifications, including apartment complexes, shall require an approved RPBA.
(B) Existing service connections will be required to retrofit to a RPBA during any tenant improvement project that has been issued a permit by the land use agency, or when a Table 9 high hazard tenant listed in WAC 246-290-490 is identified.
(C) The public water supply to any premises identified in WAC 246-290-490, Table 9, shall require an approved AG separation or an approved RPBA.
(D) The public water supply to any residential home with an external grinder, or internal ejector, wastewater pump (or lift station of any type) shall require an approved RPBA.
(E) The public water supply to a dedicated irrigation meter with no chemicals shall require an approved DCVA.
(F) The public water supply to any temporary construction meter shall require an approved DCVA.
(G) The public water supply to a fire system, other than a flow-through system, with no chemical additives shall require an approved DCVA (or DCDA).
(H) The public water supply to a fire system which will contain any chemical additives, including food-grade additives, shall require an approved RPBA (or RPDA).
(I) The public water supply to any premises where entry is restricted so that inspection for cross-connections cannot be made with sufficient frequency or at sufficient short notice to assure that cross-connections do not exist shall require an approved AG separation or an approved RPBA.
(J) The public water supply to any premises having a repeated history of cross-connections being established or re-established, shall require an approved AG separation or an approved RPBA.
(K) The public water supply to any premises which has internal cross-connections that are not correctable or which has complex plumbing arrangements that make it impractical to ascertain whether or not cross-connections exist, shall require an approved AG separation or an approved RPBA.
(L) The public water supply to any premises which has a heat exchanger, a geothermal heating/cooling system, or a solar hot water system shall require a risk assessment inspection by the district CCS to determine the level of backflow protection that may be required to be installed.
(M) The public water supply to any premises where cross-connections are unavoidable or not correctable, such as, but not limited to, tall buildings (over 30 feet), and water booster pump systems, shall require an approved DCVA at a minimum.
(N) The public water supply to any premises on which materials dangerous to health or toxic substances are stored or handled, and which, in the assessment of the district CCS poses a potential high health cross-connection hazard to the public water system, shall require an approved AG separation or an approved RPBA.
(4) All backflow assemblies, permanent or temporary, shall be tested by a Washington State certified Backflow Assembly Tester (BAT) upon unlocking, and at least annually thereafter. Backflow test reports shall be submitted electronically to CCC@awwd.com. Washington State certified BATs are free to use their own backflow test form as long as it contains all the pertinent information required by the District, or they can contact CCC@awwd.com and be provided a District specific test form. [Res. 2743 § 3, 2022].